Understrife
by cynical camp boy
Summary: (Understrife!AU made by me, rated T for language and violence, rating might change, cover art by me.) Welcome to a world where humans are locked in battle with monsters, and nobody is safe. But, when a child of mercy falls into the Underground, they could be the key to defeating the humans. There is no easy escape, however, and none of the monsters seem keen on mercy... (PACIFIST)
1. Fallen Down

Frisk sat on the edge of the human camp, staring into the mouth of that cavern. It seemed like it was calling their name, but they knew that it was dangerous. All sorts of terrible monsters lived in that place. They had been told that the monsters were ruthless, and if they fell and somehow survived, the monsters would immediately kill them. They sighed, resting their chin on their hand, tapping their heavy boots to a beat only they could hear. The humans and monsters had been locked in war for as long as they could remember, and the camp Frisk was stationed at was to make sure no monsters would climb out of the peak of Mount Ebott. Restlessly, they stood up, deciding to take a walk around the mountain to think. Whoever their parents were had been killed by monsters, and Frisk had been taken in by a training camp. They knew the basics of fighting, how to swing a sword, what common monster's magic attacks were, and, above all, how to kill a monster.

They had been sent many times to try and kill monsters that had made it out of the Underground by stealth or strength alone, but each time, they refused to raise their sword and swing. Frisk's camp, realizing that Frisk wasn't good at fighting, quickly sent them away to where they thought Frisk would be useful. The first opening to the Underground at the top of Mount Ebott. It was easy enough. If any monsters decided to try their luck and climb up, the humans would quickly and easily kill them or knock them back into the Underground, that hellhole of savage monsters... Or, at least, that was what they had been told monsters were like. A shout made Frisk snap out of their thoughts, whipping around to see one of the humans pointing at them and shouting something. They realized that they were nearly at the edge of the pit, and began to step back, trying to keep their footing. Out of nowhere, something whipped out of nowhere, making the wind sing before it grabbed Frisk's leg. They yelped, trying to see what it was. A green vine, wrapped thickly with blood red thorns made Frisk glad that they were wearing their thick boots. It ripped the legs of Frisk's pants to shreds though, and it began to pull them.

More shouts came from the human's camp, and Frisk grabbed on to a brown root, their hands clawing for holds to try and keep the vine from dragging them down in to the Underground. Frisk didn't want to go down there. Everyone said the monsters were savages, dangerous beings hell bent on destroying humans, and Frisk was at their mercy. The vine tugged harder, and Frisk cried out in pain, their leg feeling like it would tear cleanly off. Frisk let go of the root, deciding it would probably be best to try and keep their leg as long as they could. It would at least make their death in the Underground less painful. Frisk was silent as they fell into the Underground, the vine unwrapping itself from their leg and disappearing. The light from the mouth of the cave fell away quickly, and Frisk was shocked. Everyone said that death was supposed to be when you got flashbacks of your life. But they got nothing, merely the frantic beating of their heart and the distant shouts from the camp far above.

Frisk closed their eyes, accepting their death. It wasn't a good life. They didn't know who their parents were, they were beaten for not being strong enough, for not being able to kill a monster. All their life, they were told that they were useless at fighting, told how easy it was to kill a monster. It wouldn't take any effort at all. Just raise the sword and swing. The wind, ripping into their clothes and hissing in their ears as they fell, farther, farther into the Underground stopped suddenly as Frisk impacted the ground. The breath was knocked out of their lungs, and they started to gag and cough, trying to breath. What had happened? Were they dead? Gasping for breath, they sat up slowly looking down at what they had fallen into. Golden flowers. Frisk looked around the room, noting how dark and dreary it looked. The golden flowers were the only life in this place, and right away, Frisk knew that they definitely weren't dead and in some paradise when they tried to stand up. They stumbled, falling to their knees in the golden flowers, sent into another fit of coughing. The taste of blood in their mouth nearly made Frisk throw up, as they wheezed and gasped for breath. Specks of dark red splattered onto the golden flowers, and Frisk felt like crying. They had fallen down, and they were going to die a long, painful death.

Frisk felt their chest, and tried their best not to burst out screaming when their hands sent a burst of fiery pain shooting through them. They had landed on their back hard, and one of their ribs had cracked. Unsteadily, spots appearing in their sight, Frisk stood up, holding their side. They limped towards a dark purple doorway. Perhaps there would be someone in there to help them, but, deep in their heart, they knew that the monsters were savages. Nobody could help them, and nobody would. Blood streamed down their right leg, the one that had been ripped by the vine, leaving a trail behind as they stumbled through the doorway. They tried their best to ignore the bleeding, but it was hard when your leg felt like it was burning, yet felt wet at the same time. Firmly, Frisk told themselves not to look at it, for it would only make it worse, and stumbled into another clearing. They raised an eyebrow in spite of the pain they were feeling, suppressing another fit of coughing. "Well, howdy there! It's a fine day for a slow and painful death, isn't it?" A small, bright red, orange, and yellow flower said, a smug smile on its face. Frisk stumbled closer, and the sneer grew a little bit bigger. "Not much for talking, are you? No matter. I can see that you said yes. But anyways, welcome to the Hellhole! ... Oh, excuse me. I meant the Underground." It chattered, and, if Frisk didn't have a bad feeling about this before, they definitely did now.

"I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower. Nice to meet you." Flowey said, leaning forward as Frisk walked closer to it. At this point, Frisk could see the red thorns on Flowey's stem, and a strong urge to kick the thing came over them. They started to crouch down to eye level with Flowey, but he raised a leaf to stop them. "Oh, don't do that. It'd only make it harder for you to get up, wouldn't it? And as fun as it would be to watch you try to get up, I'm not fond of listening to children scream. Besides, you don't want to attract monsters that aren't as happy and kind as I am, huh?" He said, the smile on his face widening. When Frisk didn't respond, merely gritting their teeth and holding on to consciousness, Flowey sighed. "Thanks for the blood though. Human blood is good for the leaves. But anyways, I think someone should teach you how things work down here in the Underground!" Flowey straightened up. "Down here, we share strength through these little things called... Steroids." Flowey said, and nearly burst out laughing. "No, no, I'm kidding! We share strength, and heal people through these little... 'Pellets.' See them?" Flowey explained, gesturing to the white pellets that were conjured from his magic.

Frisk nodded, impressed. They liked watching monster magic. As dangerous as everyone said it was, it was fascinating to them. "Sometimes, we play games to catch as many of these as possible." Flowey said. "It's not only fun, it makes you stronger, and heals you! Go around, try to get as many as possible!" Flowey cheered, and the pellets began to float at Frisk, who nervously stretched out a hand. They were probably going to die anyways, so they figured, why not take this risk of accepting what could be healing from this friendly looking monster? But the second their hand touched the little white pellet, they regretted it immediately, as a burning sensation seared through them, making them fall to their knees with a yell. Spots danced around their vision as they stared up at Flowey, whose face shifted and warped into a hideous smile.

"You really are an idiot. You sick humans have trapped the monsters in the Underground, and you expect mercy? That's hilarious. I don't care about getting out of here. I care about getting entertainment from the idiots who fall down into here. And I don't get to see too many humans often." Flowey said. Around Frisk, vines burst out of the ground with an explosion of dirt. "You see... In this world, there's nothing called mercy. In this world, the name of the game is to kill... Everything." Flowey hissed, the vines raising to pierce their way cleanly through Frisk. A shout echoed into the room, and a look came over Flowey. "I'll finish you later." He said, before disappearing into the ground. The vines fell limp and useless around Frisk, who curled into a ball, ready to accept their death. A clink of armor and heavy boots came from the direction the shout came from. With a clank and the swish of fabric, something knelt beside Frisk. Frisk shook as a hand rested on their side. Panic rushed through them, and they let out a yelp.

"Be quiet, human!" A woman's voice that sounded as if the kindness in it had been hardened snapped. A burning sensation coursed through Frisk from where her hand rested, but they resisted the urge to scream, so stern was the voice that commanded them to be quiet. Their breathing slowly eased as the burning ceased, and with another clank of armor, the woman stood. "Get up." She commanded, and Frisk scurried to stand. When they got up, they realized that their leg was no longer bleeding, the blood merely drying on their legs and pants. Spots no longer danced in front of their eyes, and their breathing wasn't ragged. "I healed you." She explained, and Frisk looked up at the person in front of them in awe. Certainly, this couldn't be one of the barbaric monsters that they had been told about. This monster was stunning. The way their body looked reminded Frisk of a goat, but it wasn't just that. This woman wore a circlet, and the gems in the circlet were in the shape of an odd rune, that Frisk noticed that she wore on many other places on her body. On her cheeks were two arrows pointing up, and one in the middle of her face pointing down. She wore silver armor, that looked like it had been roughly polished, and a pair of old looking leather pants. She wore heavy looking boots, and shoulder pads from which hung a cape, on which was emblazoned the rune. Her horns were decorated with two plain gold bands, and she sighed, stamping her foot.

"What are you staring at?" She asked. "It's like you've never seen or killed a monster before..." She said, her tone sounding accusing. Frisk shook their head, and she sighed again. "I am Toriel. I am the guardian of this place, called the Ruins. Defenseless monsters too young or too old to fight the uphill battle against you humans are kept here until they are able. Come on." Toriel ordered Frisk. "Oh... And if you make any sudden moves with that toothpick you call a sword, I'll have run you through." She said, but Frisk was confused. She wore a belt with a holder for the hilt of a sword, but no blade was on it. Frisk knew better than to ask about it, as Toriel had a very imposing air about her, and Frisk wouldn't want to have any run-ins with her anytime soon. As they walked, Frisk could see young, curious monsters quickly run away from a simple glance from Toriel. Was Toriel a ruler down here? Maybe she was cruel and that was why the monsters ran from a mere look that she gave them? Frisk quickly put that thought out of their head as they watched Toriel explain a puzzle to them. If she was cruel, she wouldn't be the guardian of these young and old monsters, and she wouldn't have spared them. "Down here, monsters won't hesitate to attack you. Excuse us if we feel like killing the race that trapped us in here." Toriel muttered. "But I suggest you don't fight back. Besides... They'd snap your sword in half and then what would you do? Use some mercy, human."

Frisk nodded, though they weren't sure why she was telling them this. Toriel held out an arm, making her cape swish out like a wing. "Hold up. This is another puzzle... But I don't believe I should leave you to try and solve it by yourself." Toriel said. She turned, and her gaze chilled Frisk to the bone, but she reached down to grab their rough hand and walk them along. She led Frisk across a bridge, laced with spikes. But as they walked, certain spikes on parts of the bridge withdrew themselves so they could pass safely. When they reached the end of the bridge, she let go of Frisk's hand, but they sensed that her grip felt like she didn't want to let go. "... I've nearly forgotten the time... Listen. I have a meeting with someone. I'd prefer you to stay here, but you may explore the Ruins. If any monster attacks you... Use some mercy. And if I've found that you've killed anyone, I will do more than deal with you." She said, before walking off, leaving Frisk alone, flabbergasted.

This place was strange. Definitely strange, but the monsters here weren't savage like Frisk had been told. Actually, Frisk had been told many things by the humans, most of which had been proven wrong. They didn't kill Frisk on sight, apart from that weird flower, and one of them even healed their wounds. Frisk watched Toriel leave, listening to her steps in the distance. Who the person Toriel had left to meet mystified them as well. Maybe there were other really imposing monsters in the Underground. Who knew. Frisk waited a few minutes before getting up, deciding they wanted to explore.

* * *

"you're late. and i thought i was the lazy one."

Toriel sighed, crossing her arms and staring down at the short skeleton who had plopped himself in her reading chair. "cozy place ya got here. but anyways... what did you want me for?" He said, fiddling with his black gloves.

"There's a camp of humans set around the Exit. I'd like you to eliminate as many humans as you can. And could you not get killed?" Toriel said sternly.

"and my payment would be...?" He asked, giving her a devious smile, his left eye already starting to glow in his excitement.

"Five-hundred Gold, just as always, Sans. Oh, and if there are more camps than just that one, I might consider giving you Seven-hundred." She muttered.

Sans shrugged, standing up, putting the hood of his light gray-blue jacket up. "good enough." He pulled a black cloth with a large smile painted onto it around his face, covering his nose and mouth, before walking off. "pleasure doing business with you." He said, before going into her kitchen. When Toriel looked in there, he was gone, like he was never there.

The wind nearly tugged Sans' hood off as he stumbled out onto the surface. He took a deep breath through his mask, savoring the air of the surface as much as he could before going home. Sans crouched down behind a large boulder he had teleported behind, hearing voices. "How many did you get yesterday?" A man was saying. Someone else replied: "Oh, ten. There was dust everywhere. Better get those maids with their feather dusters, eh?" He said, laughing. The first man snorted. "Bullshit! There were only five in that last attack... But this war seems like a big waste of time to me. We can easily go and flush those monsters out. It wouldn't take any time at all."

Sans gritted his teeth, his eye glowing blue. Not yet. He put a hand over his left eye, listening for the perfect moment to strike. The voices steadily grew louder, and the sounds of footsteps crunching through the brown grass were audible. "I've a mind to take one of those monsters for myself! Maybe get... Information?" One of them said. "I've seen a few bunny girls in that cold snowy place!" The other one replied. How disgusting. Humans were disgusting. Sans, his heart pounding, listened, harder. Just a little bit closer... And... Now! Sans sprung out from behind the rock, his eye flaring up blue. A streamlined blaster appeared in front of him when he clapped his hands, and a beam of light cut through the dark, covering the two men's screams with the ear-drum shattering boom from his blaster.

"Easily done." Sans said, before running to the blaster and jumping onto its head. It rose into the air, carrying him to the human camp Toriel had told him about. It was stationed close to the Exit, and Sans could hear shouts coming from the camp. He could barely hold in his laughter as the blaster swooped in low, nearly running over two humans as he tried to get the humans clumped into a group for him to easily shoot all at once. "Come at me you sick bastards!" He taunted. A few arrows whizzed by him, all of which he easily avoided by dodging them, or the blaster speeding faster. Archers, their arrows aimed at him, were grouped together to make a whirlwind of arrows go his way. The wind whistling in his ears, he laughed, stamping on the blaster's head, making its jaw open as the arrows let loose. He lay low and clamped his hands over his ears as a beam blared out of its maw, disintegrating not only the arrows, but the archers that fired them. The sound was deafening, and Sans thought about making blasters that were quieter. He was an assassin, after all. An axe spun by him, catching him off guard. He caught it with his magic. "Woah there. Getting a little..." He threw the axe, and it spun, hitting its mark perfectly, decapitating a human. "A-HEAD of ourselves there?"

Sans laughed as his own joke, before letting loose another blast from the jaw of the blaster, easily killing yet another line of humans. It didn't take long before the entire camp was completely obliterated, nothing but a smoldering wreck left to show that anyone was there at all. Sans stared down at his work, the blaster floating and giving him a bird's-eye view of the destroyed camp.

"... five hundred gold in the bag."


	2. Left Behind

"I spared you because you are but a child. The adult humans are savage killers. But you... Maybe you can learn that we just want to see the sun again." Toriel muttered, taking Frisk by the hand and walking them through the Ruins. "... Hmph. I apologize. I went on a rant there, haven't I?" she said. Knowing that she only spared Frisk because they were young didn't make Frisk feel determined at all. "I am glad, however, that you haven't attempted to kill any monsters yet." She said. Toriel stopped, staring up at a dead-looking tree, its wood darker than a night sky, but its leaves were the color of a fiery sunset. A pile of the crimson leaves was bunched around the roots of the tree, and Frisk wondered to themselves why the leaves weren't on their branches. A single leaf, on a limb of the tree caught their eye, and as Toriel walked past the tree with them in tow, they watched it twirl down to add to the pile. Just like everything in the Underground, it fascinated Frisk. They were in awe of Toriel, of the precariously well protected Ruins, the puzzles, and the magical monsters dwelling within. Were the Ruins the only part of the Underground? They couldn't possibly be near the Exit, so Frisk quickly put away that notion.

"You're the first human that has actually fallen down into here in a long time..." Toriel muttered, letting go of their hand and turning to them right in front of a door to a house. "... I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you, little one." She said, the poor light catching the purple gemstones set into her circlet. "Six humans have fallen into here before. They all wanted to go home. I tried to protect them and keep them here, but they all left. And they were all killed. If you want to live, I think you should stay here. But note that if you try anything, you will be killed on the spot." Toriel explained to them, before opening the door and walking in. Her cape disappeared out of sight, and Frisk, a chill running up their spine, glanced back at the ebony tree before running after her.

Her house, at least, they assumed it was Toriel's house, was rather dull. The only source of cheer was the fire burning in her hearth, and the bright little kitchen she had. "I might be the guardian of this place, but that doesn't mean I should have anything more than the normal monster." She explained to Frisk. That made sense to them, but the dark stairs leading into the shadows in the front room peaked their curiosity. "Oh. Before I forget... I have been keeping a room for any innocent humans like you. Follow me." Toriel said, before walking past the stairs into another hallway. She opened the first door, and Frisk was surprised. Her house was purple, just like the rest of the Ruins, but this room was a warm orange and brown tone. "Your room. Feel free to rest as long as you want to." She said, before resting a hand on their head. Toriel quickly stopped the gesture of genuine care she had given Frisk, and quickly turned, leaving them with their room.

Frisk slowly walked in, glancing around. It was nice, yes... But they wanted to go home, and that was the thing. Living in a world of magic and monsters would be fun, minus the fact that no monster would ever trust them completely. And nothing could overcome the fact that they wanted to go to the only home they had known. They didn't have friends in their training camp, for they were much too quiet for any other person to care much for even greeting them. They were often teased for the way that they looked, with their choppy brown hair that they cut themselves with a knife they had stolen from the kitchens, and the many cuts and bruises that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Frisk sighed, closing their room's door and sitting on the bed. It might be true that they didn't have friends, that they were bullied, but living in a world where everyone expected you to stab them in the back wasn't something they wanted. Frisk looked down at one of the legs of their jeans. The fabric was completely destroyed, and Frisk winced.

They didn't have any wounds left from being dragged into the Underground by that weird flower, but the sight of dried blood and the torn fabric made their leg ache just thinking about it. Frisk took out their knife, cutting away the ripped fabric, being extremely careful not to cut themselves while doing this. They had experience with cutting their hair, and they had only accidentally cut themselves once or twice, causing a few cuts to appear on their face. Eventually, Frisk, finishing their job, found themselves with pants that were half shorts and half jeans. They tossed away the bloodied denim onto the floor, and started to cut away at the other leg. They usually didn't care for looking good, but they felt like they had to in front of Toriel. Minutes later, Frisk found themselves laying on top of their bed, scraps of the cut fabric around them and staring up at the ceiling. Toriel had told them just how dangerous the Underground was, but they still wanted to go home. As they thought more and more, their eyes started to close, their body finally deciding that they had had enough of being almost killed.

...

Frisk woke up to a glorious smell. What was that? They had never smelled it before in their entire lives, and they realized just how hungry they were. Frisk hung their legs over the side of their bed, reaching for the little lamp set on a bedside table. They flicked on the light, adding the warm yellow glow to their room. Set on the floor was a plate with... Was that a pie? Frisk had seen their instructors back in their training camp have those, but they had never been allowed a slice. They picked it up, but a strong feeling immediately told them not to eat it right away. What a shame. Frisk opened the door to the hallway, taking in more of the scent of the pie that Toriel had made. As they walked into her living room, they saw Toriel sitting in a large reading chair next to the fire, flicking through a file. "Oh, you're up." She said, closing the file and getting up. She inserted the file into her bookshelf and took a different, more colorful looking book out. "Did you sleep well?" She asked, and Frisk nodded.

Toriel sat back in her reading chair, opening the book up. It appeared to have a snail on the cover. "Please, feel free to take a look around. If you cannot tell, I am very glad that you are living here. I even held off of making snail pie today. ... Did you need something?" She asked, leaning over to look at them. Frisk, feeling nervous, whispered to her about wanting to go home. Her gaze hardened, and she huffed. "You know what I told you." She said, but Frisk pushed her again. "Please, go take a look around." She said, before staring back at the book. Frisk raised a hand to touch her shoulder, but Toriel sighed. "Go take a look around." Toriel ordered, and they left her, going to explore her home. The kitchen was filled with the scent of the pie, and if Frisk stretched up on the tips of their toes, they could see the huge pie pan. The size of it intimidated it too much to even consider eating it themselves. They left the kitchen, walking past Toriel once more, who stared at her book like her life depended on it.

The front room again peaked their interested. The stairs that led down there... What was down there? They turned from it, forcing themselves to keep walking past their room to go explore the hallway. Frisk opened a door, and found themselves in a large room with a gigantic bed. They glanced down at a bucket set by the door, and their stomach turned upon seeing that it was crawling with snails. Ew. They walked into the room, looking at everything. Frisk glanced at a journal opened wide on a desk. There were several notes charting the position of human camps inside of the Underground and how many humans that there might be. But circled, was a terrible joke involving goats. ' _I don't know how i GOAT here!_ ' Frisk nearly burst out laughing, and they glanced over the rest of the page, filled with jokes of a similar caliber. ' _GOAT any last words?_ ' The notion that Frisk was invading Toriel's privacy slowly came over them, and they decided to leave... After one more pun. ' _I've made some very GOAT puns to turn a BAAAd day into a GOAT one!_ ' Maybe Toriel wasn't as hard and silent as Frisk initially thought.

Frisk sighed, turning from the journal, and left her room. At the end of the hall was a single room, boarded up with a mirror hung next to the door. Frisk stood on their toes to look at themselves. Not in bad shape for being dragged into the Underground. They turned, deciding to explore downstairs. They were quiet as they walked down the stone steps, staring at the slimy looking walls. Was this a basement? Frisk kept walking, their footsteps making barely any sound as they moved through the tunnel. Why would Toriel have tunnels under her house? They kept moving, wishing they had more light, when the shape of an intricate door appeared in the dark. Frisk squinted, reaching out to touch it when a fire flared in front of them, making them yelp and dart backwards. They blinked, trying to adjust to the light of the fire in front of them, when a light whipped up behind them.

"I don't know what you're trying to do." Toriel's voice said, echoing in the empty tunnel. Frisk turned, seeing her and biting their lip. "I have given you everything you need, and you still want to attempt what would be suicide?" She muttered, her gaze cold as she looked at Frisk. She took the hilt from her belt, holding it in front of her. Toriel put her hand where the blade would have been, and raised her hand into the air. Frisk gasped as a fire danced to life on top of the hilt. Toriel was using a flame sword. They were on the end of that flaming sword, and at the mercy of the cold heart of Toriel. "I was trying to protect you, but you still want to leave. Stand aside, little one." She said, gritting her teeth. "Come with me peacefully and I will not hurt you." Frisk, their eyes adjusting to the light, quickly explained that they wanted to go home, even if that meant leaving her. Toriel sighed, lowering her sword. "Fine..." She said, and Frisk sighed in relief. "Show me... Show me that you're strong enough to survive the Underground!" She roared, before charging at Frisk, swinging the sword in a large arc to hit them.

Frisk yelped, darting aside. Toriel's back was to the door, and the rage glared in her purple eyes, her stern face illuminated by the sword. She charged at them again, stabbing with her sword and catching Frisk off guard with her speed. Frisk failed to dodge her stab, her sword hitting its mark and searing their leg, leaving a cut where it hit them. That wasn't normal fire. There was a blade behind that fire, conjured from the magic Toriel used. "Fight back! Show me you can live!" She ordered, raising another wide strike. Frisk ducked, barely dodging it. They tried their best to ignore the pain jolting through them, and told her that they didn't want to fight. She sneered, slashing at them again. "How do you expect to live when you can't even fight?!" Toriel asked, and Frisk dodged again, once again with their back to the door. Toriel stabbed at Frisk, catching her mark perfectly by slashing at their hand.

Their cuts started to feel like they were burning, hotter and hotter, but they needed to stay determined. Frisk continued to ignore fighting Toriel, trying to dodge and dodge. When Toriel had landed a few more hits on them, her attacks began to slow, allowing them much more time to dodge. But another stab later, her sword was impaled in the corner of the stone wall, with Frisk cowering in front of her, hurt and just wanting it to be over. They tried their best not to cry, to show Toriel that they were strong, but their tears flowed anyways, looking away from Toriel. The heat from the sword above their head made them beyond nervous, and the burning from their cuts burned. Toriel drew the sword from the wall, staring down at Frisk. She knelt, sheathing her sword and putting a gentle hand on their head as they sobbed. "... Of course... I wouldn't be protecting you if I killed you..." She whispered, before her hands glowed with healing magic. Frisk slowly stopped shaking, realizing that Toriel stopped attacking them. They sniffed, rubbing their eyes.

A small smile was on Toriel's face as she looked down at them. "The Ruins are small when you get used to them... And the monsters here would probably be afraid of you. What kind of guardian would I be if I didn't make them all happy? What kind of friend would I be if I didn't let you go...?" Toriel took a shaky breath, looking at them in the eyes. "... Just know... That if you do end up leaving... You will never be able to return to the Ruins. Please... Think about it." She said, before holding out her arms and hugging them like she didn't want to let go. Frisk hugged her back, becoming filled with determination, knowing that she genuinely cared about them. "... Good luck... My child." She said, standing up and walking off into the tunnels. Toriel glanced back at them, showing Frisk a glimpse of tears within her purple eyes, before turning and almost running off. Frisk slowly got up, slight guilt within them as they walked their separate ways from Toriel. No matter what happened, they needed to get out of the Underground.

* * *

The sharp cold outside of the Ruins made Frisk wish that they had some of Toriel's fire. They shook their head to clear that thought, before walking into the woods, glancing back at the tall purple door of the Ruins. Tall, thin, gray trees stretched up to the nonexistent sky, their branches coated in frost and snow. Frisk rubbed their hands together, crossing their arms and walking through the snow. They felt lonely without the thought of someone being near them, but they continued anyways, a chill running up their spine. Frisk took another step, and they stopped suddenly, blinking in disbelief. Why did their step suddenly sound so much... Louder? Frisk glanced around them, before walking off.

Watching them was someone, running over a conversation they had had in their head. "I don't know where you disappear sometimes. You're not even at your station!"

"and so what?"

"I mean, what if some humans come out of nowhere and attack you? What would you do then? You never even train, or... Do anything at all!"

"pff."

"Don't you dare walk off! I'm talking to you! Fine! Go be useless somewhere else!"

They gritted their teeth, shaking their head to clear their thoughts and staring at Frisk walking through the snow from their perch high above the ground in the trees. Frisk neared a bridge, which had bars over it. Frisk blinked, staring at it. They could probably fit through there... Steps crunched through the snow, and Frisk stiffened up, knowing that someone had been following them. They turned slowly, seeing someone just as tall as them standing behind them. The figure held out a hand, and it occurred to Frisk that... They wanted a handshake? Frisk shook their hand, and could barely keep the smile off of their face as the sound of something like a balloon deflating went off. The person who Frisk had shook hands with pulled down his fluffy gray hoodie, pulling down a dark gray bandanna with the pattern of a smile from their mouth.

"the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's always funny..." He said, and Frisk stared at him. "what's with that look? it's supposed to be funny. i'm sans. sans the skeleton. you're a human, aren't you?" Sans asked, and Frisk nodded. "wow. that's hilarious." Sans said, his eye glowing blue for a moment before leaning past Frisk. "to be honest, i'm supposed to be on patrol for humans... but i don't really feel like capturing them. my brother on the other hand, papyrus? he's a human hunting fanatic. actually, i think that's him right now. go right through these bars. yeah, straight through." Sans said, and they walked into a clearing. The clearing had a snow covered station of sorts, and an odd shaped lamp. "stand behind that lamp." He said, and Frisk darted behind it.

A tall skeleton, much taller than Sans appeared, wearing full body armor that clanked loudly as he walked. "Sans! You haven't re-calibrated your traps yet! What are you doing?" He said, and Sans shrugged.

"meh. i was busy looking at this lamp." Sans said.

"What if a human comes through?! What will you do?" The tall skeleton said, obviously getting pissed at Sans.

"i would tell them to look at this lamp."

"Sans! Shut up about the lamp! Focus!"

"papyrus, papyrus, calm down. just look at this lamp." Sans said, shrugging.

"SANS! I TOLD YOU TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THE LAMP!" Papyrus yelled, and Sans snorted. "Sans, this is serious! So act like it! What have you even done today?!"

"oh, me? i've got a ton of work done. a skele-ton."

"SANS THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOUR PUNS! We need to find a human!" Papyrus retorted.

"i think this lamp might solve that problem." Sans said, mentioning the lamp again and making Papyrus yell in rage. A ring tone started to go off, and Sans got out a cell phone. A rarity nowadays, even on the surface. "oh, one sec. i need to take this call. why not look at the lamp while i'm on the phone?" He said, and Papyrus sighed heavily, before stomping off. "guess he was pretty skele-done." Sans said, before tapping something on the phone and holding it up. He listened for a few moments, before scowling. "another one? now? but a hu- and i still can't tell my brother that i'm doing this?! wait, how much gold? ... fine. i'll be there in a second." Sans huffed, before snapping the phone shut. "you can come out now, kid. i'd like to keep an eye socket out for ya, but i got called to do a job. don't worry. i'll be back in a bit. try to avoid my bro, alright?" Sans said, before walking off across the bridge. Frisk watched him leave, before walking out of the cover of the conveniently shaped lamp. Seriously, that was way too convenient to be true.

But Papyrus' mentioning the fact that Sans hadn't set his 'traps' up made a feeling of dread come over them. Traps weren't good, and something told Frisk that they were meant specifically for humans. In the direction that Papyrus had left, Frisk started to walk off. Eventually, they knew that somehow they would leave the Underground.

And that filled them with determination.


	3. Useless

Sans banged on Toriel's door, his heart racing. She opened the door to her home, a tired look on her face as she stared down at the excited looking skeleton. "Hello Sans. Well done on that last job." She said, handing him a bag. "That'd be your payment. I have a different type of job for you... This time, instead of killing a human, you'll be protecting them." His face fell, and she sighed. "This is very, very important. I don't suppose you saw a human child heading out of the Ruins door? They were wearing a striped shirt." Toriel explained to him, and he shrugged, looking away from her at a brick in her house that suddenly became the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

"yep. nice kid." He muttered.

"So you've met them? ... And you didn't kill them. To be honest, I'm surprised, considering your... Rather manic personality, if I may say that." Toriel said, raising an eyebrow. Sans had earned the reputation with her of being an extremely erratic and borderline insane person, reveling in every single mission that he was assigned. The fact that he hadn't killed them yet made her suspicious, but she thought it would be better to not mention it to him.

"go ahead. i've been called worse." Sans responded. "but, as always... you know exactly what i want for this?"

"I have to wonder how much your home costs when you and your brother aren't there often... But if you complete this mission successfully, protecting the human... I will make sure you and your brother are never, ever homeless again." Toriel said, and that struck something within Sans. The small, contained smile he had on his face right now was another part of his personality that Toriel had learned. He would have fun with this. Sans always had fun, no matter what he was doing, from slaughtering humans, to protecting a single human child.

"pleasure doing business with you. and if you'll excuse me, i left them in snowdin. hopefully they haven't stepped on a trap yet." He said, before starting to walk off.

"Wait. Can I ask you something?" Toriel stopped Sans, who turned, raising an eyebrow. "... May I ask why you left being one of the Royal Scientists?"

"huh. you know about that? and yet, you don't know why i left." Sans said, the smile spreading across his face, trying to contain his laughter. "that's hilarious... now... don't get me wrong. i love my job. but leaving one of my few friends to take on all of the orders for new weapons by themselves just to clear out some humans here and there? i was reassigned. and i think that's all you need to know. let's keep this relationship at a business level, huh?" Sans said, his eye turning pitch black as he turned to leave, eventually disappearing just like that. Toriel couldn't help but wonder exactly why Sans acted the way he did, with his personality switching from calm and collected, to being completely and totally insane. Someone so unstable was useful... But dangerous too. Just as long as Sans was happy and kept working for the monsters, Toriel supposed that she shouldn't worry so much over it. But he had mentioned that he had a friend... Who was obviously not his brother. There were so many mysteries involving that seemingly innocent looking skeleton, none of which she had the time to look into.

* * *

"put this on." Sans said, standing in front of Frisk, who had miraculously survived some of the starting traps Papyrus had set back up for them. Frisk raised an eyebrow, opening their mouth to ask why, and Sans gave them a look so serious that they didn't argue anymore. "kid, every monster knows what a human looks like. if you want to stay alive, i suggest you take this costume. and yes, i know it looks ridiculous, but it might fool some monsters for a while." He said, handing a costume to Frisk. Frisk could see a pair of rabbit ears sticking out of it, and it sparked memories within them. There used to be a human holiday that everyone celebrated. When they all put on costumes and went around getting free candy... Frisk had never had a costume like that before. "oh, and before you ask where i got it, i... ah, borrowed it from some humans." Sans quickly leaned over to check to see if there were any dark red stains on the light blue fabric of the costume. Sans jerked up, hearing footsteps loudly crunching through the snow, and the clank of armor. "quick, go put that on over there." Sans hissed to Frisk, who ran off with it in their arms.

"Sans!" Papyrus' loud voice rang out, and Sans leaned down, pretending to be re-calibrating one of his traps. "Oh, thank God. You're finally doing that." He said, crossing his arms. "... Sans? Why won't you respond? Sans!" Papyrus said, looking at his work. "What the-?! You aren't even setting them correctly! I don't know why I bother leaving you to do this stuff sometimes!" Papyrus said, crouching down and moving his brother out of the way to set the trap himself. "What have you even been doing?!" He demanded, and Sans sighed.

"papyrus, i'm having a rough day." Sans said, crossing his arms as his left eye began to give off a soft blue glow. "lay off a little."

"Sans, there's no time to relax. Did you forget what time we're in? You can rest when all of the humans are dead! Now go and make an effort to be useful while I set all of YOUR traps!" Papyrus retorted, and Sans stood up, the glow intensifying.

"At least you're not that Papyrus who was beating me to train." He whispered, and Papyrus jerked his head up, staring at his brother in surprise.

"What?" He asked Sans.

"I'm saying... That I need a break." Sans said.

"Don't be an idiot, Sans." Papyrus said, standing up after setting the trap, his hands on his hips. "You sleep all day! You don't do anything!" He yelled at his brother. Frisk leaned out from behind a tree, watching the two brother's argument, feeling as if they really shouldn't be watching this. "So tell me why you would need a break!"

"You're so oblivious it hurts, Papyrus." Sans whispered, his eye starting to flare up into an aura of blue. "If you knew everything that I knew... You wouldn't want to get up in the morning either."

"DON'T BE STUPID! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Papyrus shouted, obvious that he was pissed. "ALL I KNOW IS THAT HUMANS WILL KILL MONSTERS, SO WE NEED TO KILL THEM!"

"At least there's something that you care about." Sans said, beginning to turn and walk away.

"SANS DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE! THIS ISN'T OVER!" Papyrus said, taking a big stride forward, before yelping as the mechanism for the trap snapped shut, a net set on the ground, covered by the snow scooped Papyrus into the air. Sans turned, a huge smile on his face.

"huh, look at that." Sans said, watching his brother struggle in the net.

"Get me out right now!" Papyrus demanded, trying to get out of the thick net that he couldn't rip with his bare hands.

"oh, i'm sorry. i would, but, i don't know how." Sans said, trying not to laugh. "besides! you said it yourself! Apparently... I don't know anything." Sans laughed, doubling over into his crazed laughter. Papyrus stared down at his brother, laughing at him as he was trapped, anger smoldering in his eyes. And Frisk, watching, felt their hearts pound. They were going to trust themselves to be protected by Sans? It unnerved and scared them, as they watched Sans howl with laughter, pounding his fist on the ground.

"SANS!" Papyrus shouted.

"oh my god that is just priceless!" Sans giggled, gasping for breath. By now, Papyrus' face was bright orange with embarrassment.

"SANS PLEASE!"

"ahah- oh jeez... wow..." Sans sat up, wiping a tear from his eye. "that was... oh my god..." He took a shaky breath, before his tone slid straight to being serious. "And you expect me to let you free after you just told me that I was useless? Wow. You really do know nothing. I think you should _hang_ out here for a while."

"OH MY GOD THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR PUNS!" Papyrus yelled, before starting to struggle again, making it worse.

"heh. i haven't laughed like that since the last time i took a job. ah... anyways!" Sans dusted off his hands, acting as if his brother wasn't caught in a net right in front of him. "you done over there kid?" He called to Frisk, who darted out of the cover of a tree, dressed in a light blue bunny costume to match the people of Snowdin. If you took a close look, you could easily tell that it was fake, but Sans had advised Frisk to move through towns as fast as possible. Papyrus stared at Frisk.

"Who's that?" He asked, trying to get a good look through the ropes of the net.

"oh, i'm sorry bro. i don't know." Sans retorted, before walking off and gesturing to Frisk to follow him. Frisk stopped near Papyrus, who had began to struggle again, and bit their lip from within their costume. "he can get himself out." Sans said, before walking off. Frisk would have felt bad for leaving Papyrus there, so they drew a knife that they had from when they had fallen into the Underground, and began to cut Papyrus out. Eventually, Papyrus fell out and stood up, trying to regain his dignity.

"Thanks... Say... What's your-" Papyrus muttered, still embarrassed, and Frisk quickly turned to follow Sans, deciding to leave it at that. "... Name?" Papyrus watched them go, still pissed at his brother, before deciding to follow them. Sans was probably guiding that rabbit kid through the traps.

* * *

Just like Sans had told them to, Frisk took zero stops on their way through Snowdin just so they wouldn't get caught. They had, however, taken a short break to stop off at Snowdin's shop, where the rabbit shopkeeper was selling various weapons to be able to fight humans, and cinnamon rolls. What a drastic difference in items. Frisk had bought a cinnamon roll, before retreating into the forest to be able to eat it without getting caught, before setting out on their journey again. They hadn't stopped to eat Toriel's butterscotch cinnamon pie, because something told them that they still couldn't eat it. But as they walked out of Snowdin, an unsettling feeling came over Frisk as they headed towards Waterfall. Fog started to lay thick over where the river ran past the trail to Waterfall, and if Frisk squinted, they could see the faint imprints of someone else's footprints in the snow in front of them.

An orange light immediately made Frisk jerk their head up, staring in front of them as the orange flared up, dispelling the fog in a sphere. Papyrus stood in front of Frisk, his heavy armor shining in the orange glow from his eyes. He pointed his hand, covered in a gauntlet at Frisk. "You... You're not a monster, are you?" He asked Frisk, and their stomach turned. "Of course you aren't. You peaked my interest from the moment I saw you. My brother had been taking extra precautions to keep you safe... Wouldn't you agree that it's a little suspicious?" Papyrus said, and Frisk bit their lip, beginning to shake. "Take that costume off... Human." Frisk slowly took off the costume, their heart pounding, until they were just a little human child, standing in front of an angry skeleton with armor and endless amounts of magic to easily kill them. "I knew it... And I have to wonder... Why would Sans want to protect a human? We're collecting these human souls, you know. So our armies will be able to overpower the human's." Papyrus explained to Frisk, leaning down.

"You don't have any EXP...?" He whispered, doing a Check on them. "And yet... You're a human. No. That's impossible. All humans are dangerous savages." Papyrus straightened up, the glow of his eye flaring up as he raised his hand. Bones rose out of the ground. "And, finally, I'll be able to become a famous Royal Guardsman! I'll be the one to take a human soul! I'll give it to our king, and he'll become a god! And we'll kill the rest of you humans, and take back the sun!" He declared, before the bones pointed straight at Frisk, and they shot at them. Frisk yelped, ducking to the ground, as the bones whizzed into the mist behind them. "You're faster than I thought!" Papyrus said. "Good. Undyne said that I needed a challenge." Another barrage of bones caught Frisk off guard, as they darted around trying to dodge them. Of course, they got hit, but the pain that they had experienced when being dragged into the Underground was so astronomically agonizing that the injuries they suffered from Papyrus' attacks felt almost like nothing.

Eventually though, they felt fatigue starting to take over them, as their movements slowed, more bones hit them, and Frisk was forced to eat some of the Monster Candy that they had found in the Ruins. "Fall down already!" Papyrus demanded, shooting another barrage at them. Frisk started to attempt to dodge, but a white beam seared through the fog with a loud...

 ** _BOOM!_**

Papyrus jumped back, the fog whipping away around him and Frisk, the bones that he had sent at Frisk disappearing. A blue light came from in the veil of mist, and a few sparks of white came from something. "I told you not to make any stops." Sans said, stamping on the head of his blaster to make it move forward out of the mist. Papyrus stared at his brother, shocked. He had never, ever seen his blasters before, and Sans knew this. "hey bro." Sans said, sitting on its head as its mouth sparked, thirsty to kill something.

"Sans?! What are you doing?! That's a human and you're trying to protect it?!" Papyrus gasped.

"papyrus, you have no idea about anything. you don't know about my powers... hell, you don't know where i disappear sometimes. and when you do find me, you scold me for being on my phone. and you know why i do that? i'm looking for jobs to do. oh, but i guess i should explain to you what my job is. no, i wasn't reassigned from the lab to be a sentry in snowdin. i was reassigned to be in the army, working as an assassin for the monsters. i took jobs from the queen in the ruins and the king in new home. and each time i wasn't at my post, i was working harder than you could have ever imagined. So excuse me if I didn't set my traps. Excuse me if I'm tired. But I'm doing work much, much more important than you could have ever imagines. Got that?" Sans explained to his brother, the blaster making him float closer and closer to his brother until they were nearly touching their foreheads together.

"Why... Why are you protecting this human though?" Papyrus stammered, unable to believe anything his brother had just told him.

"Not only did the queen tell me to... I have my own reasons. And, don't get me wrong Papyrus. You're a good brother... Is what I would say if you weren't always pressuring me to work and train, set this trap, go stand over there, do this or that. Because everyone, even you needs a break. Now... If you'll excuse me, I need to take this human through the Underground. And stay in Snowdin. Go be useful like you always tell me to be." With that, Sans leaned away from Papyrus, a slight crazed look in his eyes, before motioning for Frisk to follow him. Papyrus stood straight up, completely and totally silent. His brother... When Papyrus turned around to shout something to Sans, both him and the human were gone.

And suddenly, the impact of the mistake he had made hit him. He didn't have any friends now. Papyrus had pressured his brother too hard, thinking that he was weak and useless. But in reality, Sans was stronger. Much stronger than him or even Undyne. And Undyne was merely his teacher, grudgingly giving him and other monsters in training lessons on how to fight. He wasn't important. And nobody cared about him anymore.

* * *

"don't worry about me and my brother, kid." Sans said, no longer sitting on top of his blaster, and instead walking beside Frisk. "what you should be worrying about is undyne. she's the commander of the monster's army, and if you thought the queen or my brother was hard, well, think again. she's going to fight you, and you're probably going to die. but oh well. i'll step in and keep you from dying. probably." Sans said, and that definitely didn't fill Frisk with determination. "hey, kid. don't worry. okay? i'll keep you safe." Sans said, putting a hand on their shoulder.

Frisk took a shaky breath, becoming nervous despite all of Sans' reassurances. But the fact that they might be able to get out of the Underground alive finally filled them with determination.

Enough determination to keep going.


	4. En Guarde

Sans' phone went off for the sixth time, and he groaned, finally deciding to turn it off. "... hey, kid. think you'll be good until you fight undyne?" Sans asked them, leaning down to look at them. Honestly, they didn't think so, but they nodded anyways. "cool. i'll need to be going. my brother is probably starting a riot at this point. be quick. and. don't. stop." He said, his serious expression suddenly brightening up as he turned, leaving Frisk. "good luck. you're gonna need it!" He called to them, and Frisk took a shaky sigh, wincing at the sound of their own footsteps on the well-trodden paths of Waterfall. The water, which Frisk imagined must have been beautiful before the war, was clogged with muck and various garbage, and the streams ran at a shockingly sluggish rate. Feeling sick, they looked away, turning to the dark stones making up the cave walls, and bit their lip. Deep within the ragged crevasses of the wall were little gleaming lights, which, if Frisk leaned closer to look, were gems, sparkling a million colors if the light hit them just right. Frisk crossed their arms, feeling the padding they wore on their elbows. It pissed them off, the feeling of it, but they figured that they better take whatever protection they could manage to get. Frisk kept walking, and the second that they looked up, their eyes widened in surprise and awe. There was an entire lake down here?

They supposed they shouldn't be surprised, considering how massive the Underground was so far, and they walked onto a rickety dock, which groaned in protest from their weight. Was this a dead end? Frisk stared into the darkness, trying to see what was ahead, and failing. They stepped off of the dock, passing by three panels, the words carved into them too worn to be able to made out anymore. Was there a boat or something by there? Frisk walked back onto the dock, and it gave another creak. As they took another step, a board snapped, and with a splash and a yelp, Frisk fell into the murky water. At least they had been on the edge of the dock. But that small sense of reassurance was immediately gone when a sharp stinging pain ran up their leg, and they quickly looked around for anything to help them get out of the water. The rivers were polluted, and why should this one be any different? Frisk felt the fresh cuts on their leg, and wondered just how many splinters they had managed to get, before grabbing a large, flat plank of wood. It was just big enough for them to sit on, and although a slight movement from Frisk sent it shaking, they decided that this was their best bet to keep going on. Frisk, seated on top of the wood, leaned forward, using their arms as oars to propel themselves forward into the darkness. Was there even another shore at the end of this? Frisk bit their lip, trying not to think about that, focusing on getting across the lake and out of the water.

The lashes on their legs from when they had fell off the dock were starting to hurt, and Frisk tried to keep themselves from dipping it into the water. They knew it was bleeding, and they didn't have a way to heal it until they were out of the water. Sickeningly, they thought of the extra Cinnamon Roll they had gotten in Snowdin. There was no way they were going to eat that now... Unless they were going to die. At least the Cinnamon Butterscotch Pie had been saving was in a container. While Frisk was aware of the fact that they were bleeding, they didn't know that the blood seeped into the water of the lake they were crossing, and the creatures in the depths of the murky water hadn't tasted a human in a long time. Something shifted in the water behind Frisk, and they immediately stopped, glancing behind them. What was that? Everything was still, except for the ripples in the water, and even though Frisk squinted, they could see nothing. Maybe they dropped something. Frisk began to paddle faster, turning back to their destination in the distance. Their spirits lifted, upon seeing another dock, but Frisk groaned, seeing a boat tied to the dock. Looks like someone had crossed here recently. Something rose out of the water behind them, but Frisk was too worried about the fact that a monster might be at the dock waiting for them. Suddenly, the air sung as something sliced through the air, and a split second later, Frisk found themselves in the grasp of a slimy, undeniably strong tentacle. It squeezed them as the person the tentacle belonged to rose out of the water, and Frisk yelled as it tightened harder.

"It's finally good to meet a new human, y'hear!" A deceptively cheerful voice reached Frisk's ears as they clung to the pale yellow tentacle, realizing just how high up in the air. "Maybe if I turn you into Undyne, she'll finally let me move to the city with all of my friends!" Frisk was carried closer to the thing's face, and Frisk honestly wished they hadn't seen it. A pale, slimy yellow octopus with a huge smile on their face held them, and Frisk began to shake, not from the cold water, but from seeing this... Thing. Frisk had been often teased for their many fears, including sea creatures. And here they were, being held by a gigantic octopus that oddly resembled an onion. "I'm Onion-San, y'hear! You know, if you weren't my ticket to the city, I would probably feed you to the fish!" He said, in that same cheerful tone, and it made a shiver run up their spine. Frisk wanted to be anywhere but this. "... It's a little lonely here sometimes, so I hoped that you would speak." Frisk quickly shook their head, trembling in his grasp. Onion-San seemed to settle in the water. "I would go find Undyne right now, but she's probably busy, y'hear! You know... Slaughtering humans! So, I guess you and I can have a chit chat while we wait for her to come over here." Frisk bit their lip. They were terrified of this monster, of its huge, round eyes, its sickly sweet tone, of the tentacle that held them tight.

In the distance, they heard an angry voice. "He did what? And it's in Waterfall right now?" It barked, and Frisk couldn't help but imagine that they were talking about them. "I know what to do already, don't tell me what I already know. Don't call me again unless something important happens."

"Oh! That's Undyne!" Onion-San said, before swimming through the water with Frisk raised high out of the water. They began to struggle again, kicking in the air. They didn't want to die, despite the fact that they knew they hadn't done much with their life. With a sickening lurch, they neared the other dock, and Frisk started to try and push out of the tentacle's grasp, before leaning down and trying to scratch it with their nails. Upon seeing that it had zero effect, they sighed, before biting it as hard as they could, trying not to think about the water that Onion-San had been in. With a shout, Onion-San dropped Frisk onto the dock, where they landed hard on the sturdy wood. The air was knocked out of their lungs, but they got up, continuing to run as fast as they could away from Onion-San. If what Onion-San had said was true, Undyne was also there, so they didn't stop for anything despite the pain shooting in their leg and ankle, gasping to regain the breath in their lungs. Suddenly, in a shower of splinters, a spear, glowing teal like the flora in Waterfall appeared in front of them, and they quickly readjusted their position to dart around it, fear pounding through them. There were more crashes, and Frisk knew that the spears were just for them.

"Get back here you human bastard!" A woman's voice shouted, and Frisk yelped, running as fast as they could. The clank of metal armor pounded after them, and when Frisk looked up, they spotted a figure in black armor, with a spear in its hand. Yeah. Nope. Frisk bolted as fast as they could trying to get out of there, their heart racing as they ran. They didn't care about how much their ankle and leg would hurt later, they had survived their encounter with that stupid flower, why not this? Under their breath, at every step, they would mutter ouch, but other than that, they ignored their pain, sprinting across the boards. As the boardwalk ended suddenly, and Frisk was on solid land, spotting strands of tall green black grass. Without a second thought, they dove into it, before pinning themselves against the wall, crouching in the grass and trying to be as silent as possible. They stared up at the ledge above them, where Undyne had been chasing them, and the figure appeared, standing over the grass. A spear appeared in its hand, and the cold yellow eye behind the helmet stared down into the undergrowth. Frisk didn't even dare to breath as they waited for it to give up. Or for them to throw the spear and end their lives. Undyne's eye swept over the grass, before the spear disappeared, and they backed away from the ledge into the darkness.

A feeling of dread came over Frisk. This was what they were up against? They would never be able to beat her... They firmly shook their head, telling themselves to stay determined, before getting up slowly, leaning against the wall for support as they limped along. If Undyne found them again now, Frisk would be dead before they knew it, unable to run anymore. They felt like breaking down and sobbing, but that was one of the things that people had called them weak for in the first place, wasn't it? Frisk made it into the next room, where buds sprouting out of the ground surrounded a sign, which Frisk squinted to read. Place four buds in a line to make a bridge across the water. Huh. Frisk picked up one of the large flower buds, and a light caught their eye from across the two rivers in this cave. They turned, trying to see what it was, before remembering the flower buds. It didn't take long for them to have pushed four of them into the water, and the second their leaves were all touching, they immediately sprouted into white and pink flowers, broad enough for Frisk to easily walk on. Frisk took a nervous step onto the flower, wondering if they were wasting time by doing this, but quickly shook it off, walking across them lightly. Across the river was a small hollow, with an old bench.

Frisk sighed, knowing that they had, in fact, wasted their time, before sitting down on the bench. They kicked their unharmed leg, deciding to take a rest, at least for a minute or two, when their shoe hit something hard under the bench. Frisk, scowling, got up, leaning over to look under it. Their foot... Had hit a plate? They leaned down, pulling it out from under the bench, a glorious scent following it. Was that... A quiche? It had appeared to have been abandoned. Frisk looked around, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to eat it right there and then. Might as well, as they were hungry again after their encounter with Papyrus back in Snowdin, and now, Undyne, and Onion-San. Frisk sat back down on the bench, the plate in their hands, before picking it up and beginning to eat. It was one of the best things that they had eaten in a long time, despite the fact that they had no idea how long it had been under the bench, and who had made it. When they were finished with the slice, they leaned down to put the plate back under the bench, before standing up and beginning to walk across the flowers again. Frisk suddenly stopped though, realizing something. They sat on the flower, which was incredibly soft, and inspected their leg. Upon seeing that there wasn't any wounds, they raised an eyebrow. Did monster food do that? Frisk didn't wonder why or how that happened, and they honestly didn't care. Now, the hard part would be to make it through Waterfall without hurting themselves again. Frisk stood up again, starting their journey once more, completely unaware of the danger one of their only friends was in...

* * *

"treason?" Sans said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

"Treason, Sans!" Papyrus responded, stamping his foot on the ground. "You protected a human! I told Undyne! And she told me that you might as well join the humans permanently for that! What the hell is wrong with you?!" He yelled, and Sans took a deep breath, calming himself down and deciding to play it cool. After all, it wouldn't mean that much if he left. Papyrus had done well without him ever since he was able to take care of himself. Besides, Papyrus seemed to loath him from time to time. Sans began to laugh, surprising and angering Papyrus even more than he already had. "SANS! THIS IS NOT A JOKE! YOU NEED TO LEAVE!"

"papyrus, papyrus, you are hilarious!" Sans said, and Papyrus crossed his arms, trying to restrain himself from dragging Sans out of his house and throwing him into the snow. "man, kick me out of the underground permanently? i'm the one who's keeping you in a house papyrus. the gold that i get from my job..."

"Sans, I've never seen you earn a single Gold for anything you've done!" Papyrus snapped.

"oh, yeah. that's right. i just remembered that you haven't seen what i do instead of being at my sentry stand. i sell hot dogs. oh. whoops. wrong thing. i slaughter humans for gold. pays pretty well..."

"Then why didn't you kill that human!" Papyrus bellowed, and Sans didn't even flinch.

"i have my reasons. now, if you'll excuse me... i need to watch you go homeless." Sans said, before walking out of their house completely calmly, and into the snow. "oh. and papyrus?" Sans stopped, turning to his brother. "call undyne and tell her..."

"What." Papyrus growled.

"she can kiss my brass." Sans said, raising his hand, which suddenly had a trombone in it. Papyrus groaned, about to shut the door. "wait up. one more thing. Rent's comin' up. It's two-thousand gold each month. Tick tock bro." Sans laughed, before hearing Papyrus slam the door in rage, and Sans began to walk off, pulling up his hood and putting on his mask. He didn't like this run at all.

"Undyne's going to kick that bastard out..." Papyrus muttered to himself, leaning against the door of their house. "And I'll never have to deal with him again... That... Lazy... My brother... Who was really just taking care of me... No." He shook his head, trying to wipe away any regrets he had. He couldn't afford to get soft when he was a soldier, trained to fight humans.

But despite the fact that he had been trained, despite the fact that he knew how to fight...

Had he ever been in a real battle against humans before?

* * *

Waterfall would have been a wonderful, magical place if Frisk wasn't fearing for their lives. They swore they heard the clank of armor when it was a splash of water instead, and the glow of Undyne's spears when it was just a mere bunch of mushrooms. They sighed, continuing to walk. A huge cave suddenly opened up in front of them, and a trail up against a wall led through the darkness. Frisk looked to their side, and gasped. Crystals embedded in the cave walls glittered like stars, and far off in the distance was a white castle with roofs of white, with turrets rising high into the Underground's 'sky', like something out of a fairy tale. The wind began to howl, and Frisk continued to walk, staring at the sight in awe. Suddenly, something whipped the air, making it sing, and a spear landed by their feet. Frisk yelped, springing back. The figure of hard, black armor standing before them was illuminated clearly by the glowing white and blue gems. Slowly, they took off their helmet, revealing a battle scarred face, and a head of bright red hair. But above all, Frisk couldn't look away from Undyne's eye. Undyne's yellow eye pierced through them, and they could feel themselves being judged.

"... So. You're the human that Sans protected? ... Pitiful. But If he means that much to you, you're obviously strong. I'm not going to hold back. Prepare yourself, puny human." Undyne monologued, before throwing her helmet into the road, and making another spear appear in her hands. Frisk stepped back, adrenaline pulsing through their entire body, staring at the soldier in front of them. Undyne reached up to grab her eye patch, before ripping it off, to reveal a pit of darkness, with only a white pinprick of light in it. It bled a beam of white light, before returning to normal, and she stepped forward. Both of her eyes stared down at Frisk, who was busy cowering before her in pure fear. "EN GUARDE!"


	5. Despite the Odds

"EN GUARDE!"

Frisk turned, beginning to run as fast as they could, when a wave of green magic slammed into them, rendering them immobile. They couldn't move. The words sunk in, and Frisk could only turn to see Undyne walking in front of them, a sneer on her face. "Did you think I'd let you escape?" She asked. "If you try and run again, there's no way you'll last more than a second against me!" Undyne said, before a spear appeared in her hands, and she hurled it at the defenseless child. Frisk covered their face, but when nothing hit them, they cautiously looked again. So that was what Undyne meant. Frisk had to face her attacks head on. A bright blue light behind Frisk made them turn in panic, as a spear sliced through the air towards them. It shattered, but another spear was in the corner of their eye. They could see Undyne smiling triumphantly as she pummeled Frisk with attack after attack, knowing that there was absolutely nothing Frisk could do. Frisk yelped, a spear plunging into their side, before disappearing like it was never there, and taking away most of their HP in just one turn. Undyne charged at Frisk, swinging her spear, and Frisk faced the wave of red magic that swept over them, before stepping back. Their eyes widened in surprise. They could move again.

A beam of white light bled from Undyne's eye, and Frisk, their heart pounding, darted away from her in complete and total terror. A shout came from Undyne, who ran after them with the clatter of metal armor, raising her spear and preparing another wave of green magic to stop Frisk in their tracks. The magic swept over Frisk again, and they stopped, before a teal spear appeared to stab Frisk. They quickly turned to face a wave of attacks, and blocked it as best as they could. A break wasn't in order, however, because it didn't take long before another attack was sent at them, and Frisk turned, to see... A yellow spear? It changed course from where it was facing, immediately facing another exposed side, and piercing their HP. They gasped in pain, as yet another spear plunged into them. Tears began to streak down their face as they faced Undyne's attacks once more, and they couldn't help but think that Undyne had no heart. The only people they could trust were... A wave of red magic swept over them, and their spirits immediately lifted.

Frisk bolted as fast as they could, diving into grass and plunging through a river, reaching into their pocket to grab their phone. Who knew if it would work after being in the water? It was their last resort though, and they didn't care if it wasted time. The screen flickered on uneasily, and Frisk quickly tapped the phone number Sans had given them in, before continuing to run. The dial tone matched the clattering of their steps onto wooden boards, reminding them of the docks they had faced back earlier in Waterfall. Undyne's armor clanged heavily, and she roared, "Get back here you twerp! Lie down and die already!" Frisk glanced at their surroundings, and nearly had a heart attack when they realized that a black abyss was just below them... They turned their head, looking back at Undyne, who suddenly slid to a stop, just a few steps behind them. A huge smile was on her face as she watched them, the spear in her hand disappearing. The next second, Frisk's stomach flipped as their next step had nothing below it but the air and the dark abyss.

For the second time, they were falling. Falling into the darkness. And this time, nobody would catch them. They closed their eyes, accepting their fate. A human would never be able to get through the Underground, much less a mere child. This entire place was too much for them anyways... A bright blue light pierced through their closed eyelids, and out of nowhere, someone yelled: "Hold on!" Something sped through the air towards them, and despite the fact that their impact with that something knocked the breath out of each other, they knew that they were in someone's arms. For a moment, Frisk felt peaceful. Like nothing was wrong, like they weren't plunging to their certain doom in a place where their body would never be found... But the feeling passed, when they came to a sudden stop, another blue light searing from the darkness and catching them. They opened their eyes, finding their face buried in a black scarf. When Frisk looked up, they couldn't help but smile, through all of the pain, through their misery of being trapped in the Underground... An idea occurred to them, but Frisk quickly shoved aside their notion, as the very real pain that they had experienced from Undyne's attacks reappeared. "you alright?" Sans' gentle voice called to them.

They nodded, and he set them down on a smooth, marble-like surface. "hold on tight kid. see those holes? yeah. just hold on in there." Sans told them, and they bent down, grabbing the holes. A warmth seeped through them as they held on, and Frisk realized, they were on top of one of the blasters that they had seen Sans use, and what they were holding on to... Were its eye sockets. A growl rolled from its mouth, and sparks of white magic spiraled away into the abyss as Sans stamped on the blaster's head. Frisk's stomach felt like it had dropped into their feet as they ascended at a shocking rate. The boardwalk above the abyss reappeared in front of them, and Frisk could see Undyne standing on top of them still, her mouth pulled into a sneer.

"So, Papyrus was right. You're protecting a human! What the hell are you doing, Sans?!" She shouted, as they came to a stop.

"here, kiddo. might make you feel better." Sans said, bending down to give Frisk... A hot dog? Frisk couldn't tell, because it had triangle shaped ears on one end of it. Maybe it was a hot cat. Sans straightened up, sighing and putting his hands into his pockets, keeping his balance on top of the blaster without even holding on as a result of years of practice. "yo, undyne. i heard you were shanking a defenseless kid." Sans called to Undyne as more sparks came from the blaster's mouth. It clearly wanted to blast her to bits, but Sans' presence made it fall silent once more as he spoke up again. "i thought you were supposed to protect the people who couldn't protect themselves?"

"Damnit Sans, you don't understand! We are not the monsters! Those disgusting humans are the monsters!" Undyne bellowed, and Sans snorted. "Are you mocking me?!" She yelled, and he began to laugh. "SANS!"

"you are just... just too funny!" He laughed, pounding his hand on the blaster. If it noticed, it didn't signal anything. Or maybe it was just used to Sans acting like this. He immediately stopped laughing, when a spear seared past them. "undyne, i think you should know by now that i'm going to protect this kid." Sans said, his gaze turning dead serious. Undyne seemed to only be disgusted with the skeleton, and a spear was held tight in her hand, ready to throw at them. Sans... Sans was an odd person. He could turn from being lazy to speeding to save someone's life, from being serious one moment to rolling on the floor laughing. Above all, Frisk wondered something about Sans... Why would he decide to protect them, out of all of the humans. They were insignificant, and Sans could easily kill them. "Stand down now." He growled, standing tall on the blaster.

"I'm... I'm going to kill you. You're a traitor. You're a disgusting traitor, Sans! No, you don't even deserve a name. You might as well be a human!" Undyne yelled, readying to throw the spear at Sans, Frisk, and the blaster.

"hey, kiddo, how good are you feeling?" Sans asked Frisk, facing Undyne seriously. Frisk gave him a thumbs-up, and Sans clapped his hand. Another blaster appeared in a burst of blue light. "get on and follow me." He said, before putting a shield of bones to block Undyne's attacks. "it's easy to steer. just lean forward to make it go, that's all you need to know." Sans explained. "oh yeah. and don't fall off." Frisk clambered on to the blaster, holding on as best as they could. "three..." More spears shattered on his bone-shield, but it was starting to splinter. "two..." Sans could see Undyne through his shattering shield. "one!" He yelled, as the shield shattered. He turned, putting his hands on the blaster and crouching down, before speeding off into the darkness. Frisk did exactly what he did, and, albeit rather uneasily, sped after him.

"kid! something to note is that undyne will not give up! she might not be able to fly like we can, but she's really, really good with those damn spears!" Sans shouted to Frisk over the air that whipped around them. Frisk would have nodded if they could, but the adrenaline pumping through them, and the cold wind cutting at their face like a knife wasn't something they could take their mind off of. Not to mention that they were speeding through the air on a dangerous, dragon-skull shaped blaster, following a skeleton who was going against everything that the monsters knew to protect them. They would have to ask him... Why was he protecting them? Frisk shook their head, and nearly jumped, when a loud metallic clang rang against their blaster. "don't worry about that! its just the first storm of spears. might wanna duck." Sans called to them, as more clangs rang out through the darkness. A teal spear passed right through the gap between their two blasters, and if Frisk looked up, they would see many, many more above them.

Sans suddenly knocked his blaster into Frisk's, and in a flash of blue light, the blasters morphed into one large blaster. "almost there- hold on tight! and i mean, really, really tight!" He told Frisk, who had a death grip on the blaster. A spear hit something on the blaster, and the blaster pitched forward, diving into the abyss, down into the darkness. Frisk quickly pulled up on the blaster, noting how erratic its movements had become, and struggled to make their way to a ledge, barely visible in the darkness. The blaster settled into the water and stones, and Frisk looked into the air, scowling. Teal spears were still speeding through the sky. Frisk turned to look at Sans, and stopped dead in their tracks. One of Undyne's spears had found its mark, piercing straight through his side. The spear whipped away like it was never there, and Frisk quickly took out their bag, digging through everything to find something to help Sans. He wasn't dead yet, and if Frisk didn't hurry... Well. He would be.

And Sans, his vision blurred from the pain, stared at Frisk, remembering how he had felt pain like this before. It made his eye hurt just thinking about what had happened.

* * *

"toriel..." Sans mumbled. He had spent the last of his energy just to get to the Ruins, and now he was fighting to get to the queen's home. Sans had used his scarf to cover his eye, trying not to think about just how much it was bleeding. Monsters had blood, just like humans did, and if Sans knew anything from his experience of killing humans, it was that humans couldn't lose much. Sans listened to the crunch of his footsteps. His heart lurched, the light of Toriel's house coming into view. "toriel...?" He called. "t-... toriel?" Sans whispered, stumbling through the grass. "come on... keep... keep it together..." He mumbled. His left eye sparked yellow, and he took a final step to her door. Sans reached out a hand. To knock. To do something... But no. Sans fell to his knees, his bloodied hand dragging across the wood of the door, causing only a mere scraping sound. He couldn't move, he couldn't see, and he couldn't call for Toriel. Going down like this. It was funny, wasn't it?

Toriel sighed, sitting in her living room, and putting down a few scattered papers. What was that scrape on her door? Monster children had been coming to her home every single day, doing something stupid like knocking on the door and running away, or other annoying things. She had a mind to chase them off, she thought to herself as she stood. Toriel padded through her house, planning exactly what she was going to say to whatever person was at her door. Toriel sighed, opening the door. "I'm tired of this stupid joke, okay?" Toriel groaned, before realizing nobody was standing there. Her eyes trailed to her door, and she let go of the handle, her heart pounding in shock. There were dark red streaks staining the wood, running down to a hand. "Oh... My..." She whispered, falling to her knees upon seeing the person collapsed in front of her home. "Sans?!" Toriel gasped, gathering up the skeleton in a bundle of his gray blue jacket. His black scarf was tied around his head, stained red from the blood coming from his eye. She carefully looked around outside of her house, before stepping inside with the wounded skeleton in her arms. And, to herself, she could only wonder... Who would do this?

Toriel had set up Sans in her free bedroom, taking his stained jacket and his scarf to clean, while healing him as best as she could. Toriel felt like she was going to fall asleep at any moment, but she kept telling herself that she needed to stay awake, for Sans' sake. What she was wondering apart from who did this to him, was why he didn't return to his own home, or go to Alphys. Perhaps it was her healing magic, but... She sighed, leaning over to see the bandages on Sans' head. They already needed to be changed. Toriel rubbed her eyes, before getting up. She had taken off the armor, cape, and circlet she usually wore, so the sounds it created from her movements wouldn't disturb Sans. She picked up a roll of cloth from the bedside table, before unwrapping the bandages. Toriel winced, covering his eye socket with her hand, glowing with healing magic. "He's going to be alright..." She mumbled to herself, but seeing the cracks in his skull, something told her that he wouldn't be fine... At least, not completely. "You're going to be better, and you're going to tell me who did this to you..." Toriel whispered.

Done, she sat back in her chair, leaning on the side of the bed Sans was in. She couldn't help but feel dead tired. Toriel stood up, beginning to pace the room, starting to get impatient. Time crawled onward, painfully slow for the worried queen. Just one more thing to add to her stress... She shook her head, convincing herself to not think about Sans getting hurt being a burden. It wasn't, it really wasn't, for her work in the Ruins, or, the Bunker, didn't take much. It just took time. Toriel sighed heavily, sitting down in her chair again and tapping her foot. She missed her husband Asgore, who was busy leading the charge against humanity for all of monsterkind. She protected all of the monsters who were too young or too old to fight in the war, for nobody could be spared. Toriel initially took on the job, stricken with grief over her murdered son, and her other adopted child. She swore to protect every monster who couldn't defend themselves, but she couldn't help but miss Asgore. "... Sans... Come on. You have to wake up." Toriel mumbled, leaning forward to bury her face in the bed covers. "I need to know what happened to you... You can't die. You're too important to the monsters... You're too important... To me..." She whispered, trying not to cry. Now was not the time for that, and Toriel knew that. Besides, crying was for the weak... Wasn't it? "Please..." She mumbled, taking a shaky breath.

Toriel sat there for about a minute, pleading with someone who couldn't even hear her. She was a wreck, and she knew it. Suddenly, something rested on the top of her head, and she slowly looked up, to see Sans with his hand on top of her head, a shaky smile on his face. Toriel would have immediately hugged the skeleton if it wasn't for his injuries. "he-eey... i'm alive. nice one tori..." He laughed, despite his situation.

"Sans, what happened to you?" Toriel asked him, her nerves calming down just a little bit. "What happened to your right eye? Was it a human?"

"... uh..." Sans said, a scowl on his face. "well... it wasn't a human."

"Sans, who did this? Just tell me." Toriel urged him.

"... that's the thing. i don't know. all i remember, is that a monster hit me and nearly killed me. the... the thing i remember the most about them is that they had red gloves..." Sans stammered.

"It was a monster wearing red gloves. The Royal Guards all wear red gloves, along with Asgore. Where were you?"

"snowdin. and it was definitely not asgore. i... it's definitely one of the royal guards, not a human... but... i'll be fine."

"Sans, don't you think that we should catch them?"

"no. it's fine... besides, it's just my eye. i got another one, anyways!" Sans laughed nervously. Toriel looked away from him, sighing. "Seriously. Toriel. I'll be alright. Don't worry about it. I don't want for this little incident to have to come to another monster getting hurt."

"... Alright. But... Sans? Can you do something for me real quick?" Toriel asked him. He nodded, and she sighed. "Take off your bandages, just for a second." Sans raised an 'eyebrow', before removing them, exposing his wounded eye. Both of his eyes were dark black as he stared at Toriel. "Glow your eye, like you do when you use your magic." Sans took a shaky breath, before making only his left eye glow. He immediately stopped, realizing what happened. He couldn't glow his other eye anymore.

Toriel opened her mouth to say something, before Sans put up a hand. "tori, i said, don't worry about it. i'll be fine. i can still do magic." He explained, trying to convince her.

"Sans... _You aren't going to be fine. You're never going to be fine_."

"what?" Sans asked, surprised. What was with Toriel? Her tone changed drastically, and her kind gaze had turned cold at the drop of a hat.

" _You know exactly who did it, and you're not going to say anything. You're a coward, Sans._ "

* * *

Frisk shook Sans, biting their lip. They could hear Undyne coming. They could hear the clank of her armor. The glow of a teal spear pierced through the darkness of Waterfall. Frisk needed Sans to get out. There was nowhere to go, except to their death in the Abyss below. His eyes suddenly opened, his left one glowing with a blue and yellow light. Frisk held a hand to their lips to signal him to be quiet, and he didn't ask why, hearing the clank of Undyne's armor in the distance. They held out the hot cat he had given them, pushing it into his hands with a small smile. Monster food was healing, they knew that. And they couldn't just waste it on themselves. Sans quickly used the hot cat, healing himself, right as Undyne came into view. "Perfect. Now, I can throw you into the Abyss myself!" She laughed. "I'm surprised you're still kicking, Sans... Looks like you didn't come out unscathed like you usually do... Red is a good color for you. Maybe I should make you red." Undyne said, before charging, the spear in her hand aimed at them.

Undyne wasn't giving up until they were dead. Sans and Frisk needed to stay determined, despite the odds they were faced with.

But...

The small chance that they had to get out alive together...

The little hope they had to see the sun...

It filled them with...

DETERMINATION!


	6. Their First Words

Undyne swung her spear in a wide arc, aimed to hit both Frisk and Sans. The blue light seared through the air as she swung, and Sans grabbed Frisk's hand, pulling them out of the way. "You two are going to die anyways, so what's the point? Surrender now, and I might just end your puny lives painlessly!"

"but what's the fun in killing someone if you don't have fun with it?" Sans said, pulling Frisk aside again. He was still too weak from his injury to use a blaster to get them both out of there, but he was still lightning fast. Undyne gritted her teeth, once again feeling completely and totally disgusted with the skeleton. Papyrus was a hard working soldier, and he was ruthless. Yet, the difference between him and Sans, was that he had honor... But Sans. Sans was lazy. He didn't even try. Royal Scientists should stay Royal Scientists, instead of going off into the war and wasting everyone's time. Undyne would be doing everyone a favor by disposing of this traitorous bag of bones. She lifted her hand into the air, and blue lights flashed around her, before condensing into spears, which sped at them. The water they were standing in parted as they sped by, until one hit Sans, who was unable to make both him and Frisk fast enough to dodge the spears. He gritted his teeth, before beginning to run past Undyne, who quickly sent out a wave of green magic, rooting them to the spot. Undyne clearly wasn't going to show any mercy, as more spears pummeled the companions. Undyne began to laugh in triumph, clearly thinking that she had them now.

Frisk was losing health fast, and Sans was beginning to be overwhelmed by the amount of spears coming for them. As one spear shattered, three more would take its place, and they couldn't keep this up for long. The expression of pure happiness on Undyne's face only grew as she continued to attack them. Sans lifted his hand, and bones rose out of the ground under Undyne, who took it like it was nothing at all. Undyne swung her spear again, hitting both of them with a wave of red magic. Sans, taking advantage of not being rooted anymore, lifted both of his hands, and a white beam seared out of the maw of a blaster that looked like it was about to fall apart at any time. Undyne, taken off guard by the sheer speed of the blast, was hit. Sans quickly found Frisk, and they splashed past Undyne, who had been blinded by the light for just a few moments. When Undyne could see again, she realized that they had ran for it, and snarled. "Get back here you little punks!" She yelled, before chasing after them, her heavy armor weighing her down. "You're going to pay for all of this!"

"kid, listen to me, keep running, and don't look back, alright? i'll join up with you. trust me!" Sans called to Frisk over the sound of the spears splashing into the water. Frisk nodded, thought part of them wondered what Sans was going to do. Sans let go of their hand, letting them run free, before sliding to a stop. Frisk bolted off into the water, the water weighing them down and slowing their steps, taking their stick out of their pack, and swinging it to parry a spear that sped towards them. Twigs are the main killers of spears, kids. Sans faced Undyne fearlessly, the usually cheerful look he had on his face replaced with one of pure malice and determination. "i didn't want to have to do this, undyne, but it looks like you've given me no choice." Sans growled, staring at her as she ran through the water. "do you know how close we are to the abyss?" Undyne slid to a stop, a sneer on her face as she stared at Sans. A beam of white light spilled out of her one pitch black eye, and her yellow one appeared to be gleaming in the half-light of blue spears.

"I should be the one asking you that, you smiley trashbag! And what are you going to do to stop me?! Huh? Use one of your stupid, annoying jokes?! You're a pathetic excuse for a monster! You're weak! I don't know why the hell they moved you to the army, but I'm going to fix their mistake! You damn nerds should stay locked up in that lab!" She snarled, the spear glowing in her hand as she pointed it at Sans.

That was when Sans' expression switched back to pure glee, and he began to laugh at Undyne, who gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her spear. His laughter wasn't one of happiness, no, Undyne knew that. "wow, and i... i guess these 'nerds' also include alphys, huh? you're brutal..." Sans howled with laughter. He was faced with death, and he was laughing... "I don't like it when someone like you messes with my friends." Sans said, a more serious and darker tone to his voice despite his laughter.

"You... Sans! You're fucking insane!" Undyne stammered, taking a step back in panic.

"and you know why?" Sans said, the comically large smile on his face only widening. "i have nothing to lose. and there's nothing more dangerous than a person with nothing to lose, isn't there? now, let me show you exactly what i do to dirty people like you who pick on kids like them!" Sans laughed, raising his hand. Cracked blasters filled the air, and Undyne's face immediately fell to dread, as she was faced with uncountable amounts of blasters, and the mental skeleton behind them. Frisk, nearly out of the room, stopped, staring back at them, where, in the distance, they could see the firing line of blasters, Sans, and Undyne... With an eardrum shattering boom, the blasters fired off rays of white light, all at Undyne, who took the raw force of the attack. It wasn't a quick blast, however, as the lasers continued to spill out of the blaster's maws. Undyne used as many spears as possible, attempting to block the blast, but she was beginning to be pushed back in the water. The current into the abyss, and the force from Sans' blasters was too much. "DIE!" Sans yelled repeatedly over the sound of the blasters, and Frisk, shaking, turned, running into the next room. They had a feeling that they shouldn't have seen that.

They slid to a stop, gasping for breath. More explosions followed, followed by a screech, and they quickly sped forward, terrified. Frisk trusted Sans, but he was volatile, from what they knew. Who knew if he was suddenly going to turn on them? Frisk kept moving, determined to make sure Sans thought that they hadn't been watching. From farther off came more explosions, as Frisk splashed through the rivers of Waterfall. Every part of Frisk ached and hurt from the several injuries that they had experienced. Falling on the boardwalk, being manhandled by that weird octopus thing, and almost speared through by Undyne several times were just a small list of what had happened. Frisk groaned, slowing their pace. Sans would take care of Undyne, and maybe then they could rest. But the fact that Sans would kill Undyne just to protect them... It was almost disturbing. Frisk bit their lip hard, taking another step into the murky water, trying to ignore the various human trash that was floating around them. Mere feet away, was the Abyss, and Frisk tried not to think about what would happen if they fell down there. A bright red cooler floating in the current caught their eye, and Frisk glanced around, before pushing it to safety behind a sturdy rock wall. They weren't going to fall here. Probably.

Frisk opened the lid to the cooler, wondering what was in there. They had been lucky enough to survive this long, so why should their luck stop now? Frisk knew that monster food could heal, so it was their best chance. Frisk peered in, and raised an eyebrow upon seeing a completely untouched hot cat in there. Another explosion came from the distance, and Frisk jumped, taking the hot cat and looking around. "cool, looks like ya found that before it fell into the abyss." A calm voice said, and Frisk spotted Sans, who was rubbing his left eye until the blue and yellow glow from it disappeared. Frisk bit their lip, glancing back at where they had run from. "oh. undyne, right... if she's even still alive... she's in the abyss. and she's never getting out through all of the crap that's floated down there." Frisk opened their mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. They felt guilty about Undyne, but she was attempting to kill them both. So why did they have any sympathy towards her? Frisk shook their head, trying not to think about the scream they had heard earlier, as Sans led them deeper into Waterfall. Here, piles of human garbage were clumped into mountains, and Frisk tried to avoid touching any of it, despite the fact that they were stepping in the water that this stuff had been soaking in. Frisk recognized a few brands, but they saw nothing useful. Sans, however, leaned over to a pile of trash, plucking out something round, and causing the majority of it to fall into the water. "keep an eye out kiddo. there's good stuff in here. like this human tech." Sans said, holding up something that Frisk recognized... As a grenade?! "man, i do not know why you throw this stuff away! It's a blast!"

Frisk didn't know why humans would throw away something like that either. Sans merely put it into one of his jacket pockets, and Frisk uneasily began to eat the hot cat as they walked. Hopefully the pin on that thing wouldn't go off. They continued walking, completely and totally unopposed, even when they passed through a mountain, split perfectly down the middle to create a ravine rising out of the Abyss. In the distance, Frisk could barely see the white palace they had seen before, and assumed that that was their destination. "hey kid, if you got anything really heavy on you, might wanna take it off." Sans said. "hotland is just as hot as it sounds. exposed lava and such?" He explained to them, and Frisk pointed to his own jacket, which they had noticed had turned a dark blue to match Waterfall. Guess they were too busy almost dying to notice something like that. Sans shrugged. "makes me look badass, doesn't it?" Frisk couldn't argue with that. As they walked through the ravine, Sans hummed to himself cheerfully as he walked, as if he hadn't just killed one of the Underground's most ruthless soldiers. Frisk bit their lip, seeing the dark stain of blood on the back of his jacket, but the uneasy flickering of bright lights made them look up. A bright sign, which appeared to be barely working, had a few letters missing. 'W-LC-ME T- H-TL-D!' was all they could make out. The electric lights were flickering off and on, and Frisk wondered how it was still functioning. It was obviously not built to last.

"welcome to hotland, kiddo. seriously, i'm not joking when i say that there's exposed lava, fire, and did i mention the lava? watch your step. oh yeah, i almost forgot. steam geysers. you would say, oh, steam's nice, you know... if you talked n' all, but that stuff hurts. not a good thing. this place is also nice to sell hot dogs and cats at. to be honest, some of those volcano shaped monsters kinda scare me sometimes. i have to put the hot dogs into their heads, and they react... really weird." Sans talked as they passed by the electric sign. Despite everything that had happened, Frisk was smiling, amused by the skeleton who appeared to not have a care in the world. "well, here we are." Sans said, stopping. "after you, kiddo. lava's real bright. did i mention that there's lava?" Frisk walked past Sans out of the cave, and gasped, realizing that they were walking out on to a rock formation much like a bridge, connecting to various islands of rocks sticking out stubbornly among the lava, which bubbled and ate away at the rocks that they would never be able to fell. Frisk swore it was calling their name. "i told you there was lava. why are you so surprised? let's get moving. oh yeah. don't look down."

Frisk bit their lip, scrambling over the bridge to the first island of rock. "don't worry, we won't be on these things for too long, alright? just wait until we get to the co- never mind there's an abyss there too." Frisk passed by a water tank set up on the edge of it, running past the bridge with Sans following close behind. In the distance, they could see a white building, standing out sorely from the red stones of Hotland. Its sides shown orange in the glow of the lava below, and Frisk slowed down, staring at it. "cool. guess we caught the guards out of their rotation. that building over there is the lab. yup, that's where i used to work! pretty cool, huh?" Frisk nodded slowly. Sans sighed. "... man... i said i would visit al... haven't done that yet... yo, kid? follow me. we're gonna meet a friend." He said, before taking the lead. Frisk noticed that the blue of his jacket was slowly turning from purple to red, just like Hotlands. Frisk followed behind him, trying not to think about the lava below them. Did they mention there was lava-

Sans walked straight up to the lab, before pulling one of his black gloves off and putting his hand on a panel next to the door. It slid open, and Sans leaned against the door frame. "after you." He said, and Frisk walked in, marveling at how clean and organized everything looked. An escalator that wasn't running led up to a second floor, and Frisk could see several computers and work tables. Frisk noticed one folder that was so full that it looked like it was about to rip set on one of the desks next to a computer. The pattering of feet came from upstairs, and the escalator activated.

"I-I'll be there in a second! Ouch- Okay, s-sorry, one second, one second!" A nervous voice called to them. A yellow, reptilian monster with goggles, a brown jacket, with shorts and a large belt filled with various tools. She appeared to be extremely flustered. "A-Are you guys here about the orders?" She stared down at the steps of the escalator as she descended, her hands held to her chest. "I'm, v-very sorry about that. I, uhm, I don't have any hel-..." She looked up, a shocked expression appearing on her face. "Sans? Oh my god- It's you! I almost thought you were dead you were gone for so long! How long has it been?"

"a year tops?" Sans said, shrugging.

"I-It's been that long? Wow, I, I, uhm, h-how has your work been?" She asked him nervously.

"great. in fact, i have a friend. say hello, kid." Sans said, looking down to Frisk, who had been hiding behind Sans. Frisk edged nervously out of his shadow, and the monster's expression slid from happiness to pure shock. "kid, this is alphys. she's pretty cool, and she's the main force behind the tech monsters use to fight humans. but i wouldn't blast you with one of them..." Sans explained to Frisk, who waved at Alphys. Alphys seemed completely and totally terrified.

"S-Sans? ... W... Why do you have a human with you?" She asked him, her hands shaking.

"oh, they're just a friend, like I said. queen's orders, anyways." Sans said, surprising Alphys.

"But... I thought you were on sentry work in Snowdin?" Alphys asked, and Sans' expression changed to looking shocked. He fell silent, and Alphys took a step towards them. "Sans? What... W-What are you really doing?"

Sans sighed heavily, crossing his arms and staring at Alphys. "Listen Alphys. I'm not exactly what you would call the most typical monster. I slipped up with my words. So... Might as well. I'm not a sentry. Well, I am- But it's on the side. Do you think that I would get pulled out of being a Royal Scientist just to sit around Snowdin's forests waiting for a human that would never come? Nope. I'm not a sentry, I'm an assassin."

"S-So... Sans... W... Why is that human still alive?" She asked him nervously, and Sans shrugged.

"queen's orders, like i said. i don't care about the money i'll get from it anymore. i made a promise, y'know? but, believe me." Sans put his hands on Frisk's shoulders. "If she hadn't told me to, I would have killed them before they reached Snowdin." He said, and Alphys bit her lip.

"... Sans? Are you alright?" Alphys asked him, and he snorted.

"peachy. in fact, i should tell you everything that's ha-" The doors to the lab slammed open, and Frisk jumped, clinging to Sans, who stared at the doors. Many, many guards stood in the doorway, with two fully armored monsters taking the lead.

"Those guys, they're, like, the traitors Undyne told us about! Get them!" One of the fully armored monsters said. The barks of several dog guards rang out, and Sans picked up Frisk, bolting through the lab. There wasn't a door at the end of the lab, so Sans opened a door in the side of the wall with a yellow sign in it.

"trust me, i know what i'm doing kid. you'll thank me later." He said, punching in a number into it. "hold on tight!" He yelled, as the entire room they were standing in began to descend, and Frisk realized that Sans had led them into an elevator that was slowly descending into the depths of Hotland...

"Cut the ropes!" The same guard's voice yelled.

"Wait, no no-" Someone else said, and with a groan and a snap,, the elevator began to fall, faster and faster. Frisk clung to Sans in terror, shutting their eyes and trying to ignore the creaks and groans coming from the elevator as it fell. But then, suddenly, a second later, everything stopped, and Frisk and Sans nearly bounced off of the ground of the elevator. Frisk breathed heavily, panic started to take over them, while Sans stared around at where they were, trying to comfort Frisk as best as he could.

"well then... guess we're in the old lab." Sans whispered, before standing up, putting down Frisk, who was shaking in their boots. A bone appeared in Sans' hands, which he used to pry open the doors of the elevator. The entire thing was a wreck, and now they needed to find a way out. "everything's going to be just fine, alright kiddo? trust your pal sans." But Frisk sniffed, tears appearing in their eyes. They were just a child, and they wanted to be anywhere but this. Frisk began to sob, having a breakdown. Sans quickly sit down in front of them, putting his hands on their shoulders. "everything's going to be fine... i made a promise to protect you, and i'm not letting you die. got that?" Frisk covered their face in their hands, trying not to be loud. They were panicking, and didn't know what to do...

Frisk suddenly felt themselves in his embrace, and they looked up at him, confused. Sans gave them a small smile. "... I don't understand..." They whispered, surprising Sans. "Why? Why are you doing this for me?" They asked him. "I'm a human..." Sans let them go, smiling hugely despite their situation.

"this isn't just about the promise kid. i trust you'll do the right thing. so you should trust me, alright? i know what i'm doing, and we're going to get out of here." Sans said, patting their head.

"stay determined for me, alright?"


	7. The Old Lab

**Happy 1,400+ views guys.  
** **Thank you. You have no idea how much your support on this story helps me during my stress during the day. It might only be around 1,400 views, but it's still a lot to me. Once again, thank you, and brace yourselves.**

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Sans and Frisk walked through what Sans had dubbed, the Old Lab. Sans held one of his hands high into the air, illuminating the decrepit corridor with a soft, reassuring blue light, while Frisk clung to his other one, completely and totally terrified. They had taken a small break for Frisk's sake before moving deeper into the Old Lab, until Frisk was as calmed down as they could be in a creepy place like this. Their footsteps on the grimy tiles sounded like it was booming, and the echoing, empty halls made it sound like there were many, many more people than just Frisk and Sans in the Lab. A door, with a blinking, red, blue, and yellow light on it stood at the end of the room they entered, and Frisk was merely glad that they were out of the hallway. Beds were set up around the room, some overturned, obviously by monsters. Sans brightened the light emanating from his hand, leaning down to inspect something on the floor. There was a note, and the paper had drops of... Something on it. Sans turned it over to read anything on the back of it, before re-reading the front of it to Frisk. "it says: something's wrong. everything's wrong. all of us, ther smthn wrng wit uss.' ... the rest i can't read. it's just gibberish. well... that's a good sign." Sans mumbled sarcastically, putting the note on top of one of the beds that wasn't overturned. "there's more drops of that weird stuff... on the ground." He mumbles. "there's definitely something down here. tell me if you hear anything..."

Frisk nodded, glancing around, their nerves immediately set on edge. "it's okay, kid. don't worry. you're going to get out of here alive. alright?" Sans reassured them as they walked through the rows of beds to the door with with the lights on it. "pff. i'd blast this thing open in a second if we weren't supposed to not attract whatever's down here. looks like we're going to have to look around for the keys. unless you wanna stay here and wait for me to get done?" Frisk shook their head quickly, tightening their grip on Sans' hand until his expression was forced. Well that hurt. "alright alright, i get it. there's another hall down here, come on. it looks like it splits into two other halls, so you get to pick which way we go." Sans said, walking down the other hall. "left... or right?" Frisk pointed right, and they began to walk. "hopefully, this is the 'right' way." Frisk was impressed the he could still crack jokes at a time like this. He chuckled, despite the fact that they didn't give any response as they walked. The hall opened up into a room where there were dirty mirrors set onto the wall, and the light from Sans' magic lit up the entire room as a result of the mirrors. Frisk paused, looking at it, staring at the hairline cracks racing down the surface of it, and their reflection. They were still slightly wounded from their fall in the elevator, and their face, knees, and arms were bruised. It was still them though. Sans paused, looking at his own reflection.

"huh. never knew i looked so tired all the time... i wonder if my mask actually works." Sans mumbled, before pulling his scarf over his mouth. "yup. cool." He muttered, before putting a hand on Frisk's shoulder, gritting his teeth. "kid. you see that too, don't you?" Sans whispered down to them, and their eyes traveled up the mirror. A white blob loomed over them, its form appearing to melt and shift. They nodded slowly, and Sans turned around, his eye flaring blue and yellow. A drop of white fell from it's surface, splashing on the floor. The creature quickly backed up, a warped growl coming from a hole in its body, which must be its mouth. Frisk couldn't help but stare at it, noticing the dark red around it. Fun. "well, hello there, beautiful." Sans hissed, staring at it with a burning hatred in his eyes. "who do you think you are, picking on a kid?" Sans said, and it began to howl, running forward to attempt to body slam the two of them, its massive body sliding towards them across the ground. "not much for talk, eh?" Sans said, before using a wall of bones, shoving it backwards into the wall. Frisk wielded their stick, and attempted to slash at it, but Sans stopped them midair, his hand glowing blue.. "leave this to me, kid. if you kill anything, all of the monsters will put an even bigger target on your back. focus on dodging this thing's attacks." He dropped Frisk, letting them move again, and turning back to his enemy, which barked at him, its 'mouth' foaming with a white froth. "that is not a good look for you." Sans muttered, before sending out more bones to attack the monster. More drips of its body fell onto the floor as it moved, unable to dodge the attacks. In fact, it almost looked like it was trying to get hit by the things. At least, near its mouth. It took a leap to catch one of Sans' attacks, but merely got hit, and fell to the ground once more.

It bounded towards Sans, a bark coming from it. He prepared to dodge it, getting pissed from the fact that it was barking so loudly. It was bound to attract anything else in the lab, and Sans did not want to deal with it. Frisk however, stared at the monster. It had been barking like a dog, and had even been trying to catch Sans' attacks, despite the fact that it would have hurt it anyways. It barked again, attempting to bite Sans, and that was when Frisk realized... "Sans, wait!" They called, and he immediately stopped, setting up a bone shield. He knew it must be important whenever they talked, this must be important. "That's a dog-"

"duh it's a dog of some so-" Sans gritted his teeth, attempting to pull his shield out of its jaws in vain. "hey, let it go-" He hissed, and it was ripped out of his hands.

"It's a dog, and what do you know dogs like?" Frisk said, and Sans stopped, a bone appearing in his hand, and the bone shield suddenly disappearing. He held it over his head, waving it around, immediately catching the monster's attention. It stamped its many feet on the ground, barks coming from its mouth. In between its legs came the shapes of a dog's face, and they looked excited to finally have something to do, to have someone to play with.

"hey, c'mere!" Sans said, leaning past the dog-like monster, and spotting another door. "hey, go and-" Sans threw the bone, using his magic to speed it into the right direction. The monster turned, bounding towards it through the doorway. "fetch!" The stones above the doorway shone with a blue light from his magic, before crumbling as it squeezed through, blocking its way. Sans gritted his teeth, before sighing. "well then. nicely done, kid. it's not going to be too happy when it finds out that that thing will disappear." Sans explained to them, walking into a room, where the creaks of old generators groaned, and, on the floor, as if was slightly glowing, a yellow key. "lucky break. come on." Sans said, bending down to pick it up. "if you have any other ideas on what to do with anything else we find down here, tell me, alright? that was a really good idea." He said, before taking Frisk by the hand and walking out of the set of rooms. They were back in the hallway, and they didn't go back to the room with the beds in it, instead continuing forward to what would have been the left path to find another key. San only made it about one step into the next room before stopping in his tracks. Frisk leaned past them, their eyes widening upon seeing something that appeared to be a bird-skull shaped contraption hanging over the top of what appeared to be an operating table, which had a large red stain on it.

"What... The..." Sans whispered, walking forward to the machine. He paused upon reaching the machine. Carefully, he climbed on top of the operating table. Frisk walked into the room, staring at the bird skull and wondering what Sans was doing. With a clank, a piece of metal fell on to the operating table, and a red light flooded into the room, coming from the machine. Frisk realized that Sans was dismantling it, and ran up to look. The thing causing the red light was a red, glowing fluid in a large vial, which Sans carefully detached from the machine, putting his old skills as a Royal Scientist to work. "I know what this is." Sans whispered. "... Hey, kid. Can you tell me... If you smell that?" He asked Frisk, who nodded. There was a foul smell in this room that reminded them of the med bays in the camps they had been in. Sans leaned down to the table, inspecting the red stain on it. "This isn't that old. I'd know..." He whispered, before hopping off of it, still holding the vial. There was a large pit surrounding the room, which the terrible smell emanated from, and Sans took a step into it, a bone materializing to catch him before he fell, making a staircase of bones. Frisk began to follow him, cringing at the scent, keeping the red glow in sight. Lightning fast, Sans held out a hand, making Frisk stop. "Kid... Don't. Look." And that immediately made Frisk look into the darkness below them for mere curiosity. Their eyes widened, and their stomach did a full flip, a feeling of nausea coming over them as they staggered on Sans' staircase. Sans turned to steady Frisk, who couldn't tear their eyes away from the horrors in the pit. Corpses. Rotting, decaying, definitely real corpses from humans. Frisk just stood there, staring at the rotting bodies of their brethren. They swallowed hard, shaking all over. Sans seemed almost completely unmoved by the sight of so much death before him, more concerned about the red vial and Frisk. "Some of these are new." Sans whispered, and Frisk, unable to hold it back, gagged, the bile rising in their throat. Sans quickly took their hand to steady them as they threw up, only adding to the disgusting mess in the Old Lab. Frisk sobbed as they did. They just wanted to leave the Underground, and as Sans picked them up using his magic, they curled up into a shaking, sobbing ball of misery.

They found themselves set down on top of a bed, as Sans had returned them to the room with the many beds. "kid. take a few minutes, alright? lay down, sleep if you want to." Sans said to them. "i don't think you should see anything else in here." He explained to them, and as they opened their mouth to protest, he took them by the shoulders. "you need to stay here. i don't want you seeing something... Something like that again." Sans mumbled, his eyes turning pitch black as his gaze turned to the ground. He shook his head, and fixed on a smile. "just think about the things you liked about the surface and just stay on this bed, alright? if even the slightest thing happens, call me on your cell phone. and, as for light..." Sans said, before using his magic to conjure up a small, glowing bone. "kinda like one of those glow-stick things you humans have when you shoot those bright lights off into the sky, and they explode. i've seen a few of those shows before, when i could. anyways, stay safe kid. don't leave this room unless you absolutely have to. you know what to do. i think i know what happened in this place, and i need to find the other keys. okay? good luck." Sans said, before walking off. Frisk didn't follow him, holding the softly glowing bone to their chest as they lay down on the dusty bed, which was surprisingly done. They kicked the covers away from them, laying on the bare mattress with their head propped up against the pillow. That was something they wanted to forget, the piles of corpses in the room with the weird machine. But, apart from their useless longing to forget that memory, Frisk was wondering what happened here, the glowing red vial, and how they would be able to keep avoiding guards in the Underground if they even were able to escape.

Sans walked through the dirty, foggy halls of the Old Lab, pulling out the red vial. "so, i guess you're the reason why there's loads of bodies in that room? hmph. what a dead loss. get it? ya know, because, dead bodies..." He said, talking to it, and waiting a few seconds before sighing. "of course. you're an inanimate object. you won't respond." He mumbled, and rubbed his eyes with one hand as he walked. "keep it together sans, you gotta do this for the kid. then everything will be back to normal when they hit that reset button... right?" Sans said, before realizing, once again, he was simply some crazy skeleton talking to himself in a room with a million corpses, and a skull shaped machine. "... you're determination, i know that. the essence only humans have. so that... explains all of the dead bodies. and this machine... extracts it. when it's done, the bodies are thrown into the pit below. gruesomely effective. but, there is always the question of 'who.' who mercilessly and so expertly murdered all of these humans, while extracting determination? isn't it amazing, having a mystery to solve?" Sans said to the vial, before facepalming, forcing himself to walk out of the room and to shut up and stop talking to himself like a psycho. As he walked, he stared into the various hallways, seeing a shower at the end of one. Now that was... Really weird. Sans pulled apart the curtain, obtaining the red key by doing that, and continued on his way through the Old Lab. His footsteps sounded thunderous on the dirty tile, and it made shivers run up his spine as he walked. Now, where was that blue key? Another room opened up, with several fridges, and a few sinks were there, with a single red blinking panel stuck on the wall. Sans walked up to the panel, beginning to read it, before his hands dropped to his sides, staring in shock at the writing on it. No, it wasn't in a conventional, readable language that every monster and human could recognize, but odd symbols... That he knew how to read.

 _LOG 1: This experiment will focus on the effects of Determination on young monsters. I have two subjects, which I have named 1 and 2 for my convenience. I didn't take them from the surface, and instead, I made them. It's fascinating, isn't it? First, I need to see how they react to me before I attempt any further testing on them._

 _LOG 2: The shorter one, number 1, was hostile. I think it attempted to use a magical attack on me, but it failed. Number 2, the taller one, on the other hand, seemed to be almost friendly. It's gotten attached already._

 _LOG 3: Testing begins. Number 1 will be injected with small amounts of Determination, while Number 2 will not. I will compare their power after each injection via physical and magical tests._

 _LOG 4: Number 1 attempted to resist. I have to be careful not to break these monsters. They are too valuable for science. If I can find a way to inject determination safely into monsters, we will finally put an end to this damned war once and for all._

 _LOG 5: Number 1's first injection was catastrophic. They nearly broke everything. The next time I injected it with Determination, it escaped using magical attacks, taking Number 2 with it. I need to get out there and find them... Or sit back and observe their growth. After all, even if I grew them myself, they are still little monsters. I believe I should stay back and watch them. In the meantime, I should find out what else Determination does..._

 _\- WDG_

Sans took a step back. WDG. There was something about those initials, about those symbols... A ringing came from Sans' cell phone, snapping him out of his trance, and the second he saw it was from Frisk, he ran through the halls, teleporting back to them, nearly running in right there and then, when he noticed a figure standing over Frisk. He paused, waiting for a good moment to ambush it. He could barely see the glow of the bone he had given Frisk, because Frisk had buried their face into the pillow, hiding the glowing bone. An extension of the creature's body melted out of its body, and the shape of a hand appeared. But, instead of reaching for Frisk, it reached for the covers on Frisk's bed, pulling them up to their chin. With a few drops of its body splashing onto the covers, it reached to pat Frisk's head, before walking off into the shadows of the True Lab. Sans was astonished. There was a creature that had shown compassion, even in its barely functioning form, and to a human. Sans walked forward, going up to Frisk, who was shaking, their red brown eyes wide in fear. "i'm here, don't worry." He whispered, and Frisk sat up, closing their phone. "was that monster what you called me about?" They shook their head, before digging into their pocket. They pulled out something blue, and Sans' eyes widened. "you found the last key! i guess it was a good thing that you stayed around here, huh? you used your detective skills like a pro. nice job, kid." Sans said, his smile genuine, and he helped them down from the bed, leading them to the door which was lit up with blue, yellow, and red. Frisk and Sans shoved the door open, and it occurred to Frisk that the doors reminded them slightly of vault doors. Sans leaned in first, his hand shining with blue light to illuminate the space. A warbling moan came from inside the room, and immediately, Frisk darted as close as they could to Sans' side, terrified. In the very corner of the room, its form shifting and warping as it did what appeared to be standing up, was a disgustingly multicolored creature, drops of its body splashing on the floor as a result of the determination. A call, a mix between a squawk, a sweet, gentle voice, and a growl, came from the creature as it shifted towards them. Frisk could see the form of one of the dragon-like monsters that lived in Snowdin's forests appeared for a moment before disappearing back into the mass of the creature, replaced by one of the eye-monsters they had seen in the Ruins. Frisk and Sans were both terrified despite themselves. But who could blame them?

They had fallen down an elevator, chased through the Underground by Undyne and her Royal Guards, fought a dog creature, ran into the determination extraction machine, saw a pile of dead bodies, found a mysterious science log of sorts, and now... They were faced with a monster made of many, many other monsters.

"holy... shit." Sans whispered, as the beast lunged, its cry piercing through the Old Lab.


	8. Intercom

**Oh boy. I don't enjoy making author's notes on stories like these, but... I'm having computer troubles lately, along with all of my schoolwork pressuring me way too much... My computer will have to have a full reset done soon, so it'll take me a while to get back into a regular schedule. But hey, you came here for a story, didn't you? Let's do this.**

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The creature roared, its mixed cry of a million voices piercing Sans and Frisk's ears as it lunged forward. "Behind me!" Sans commanded Frisk, who immediately darted behind him. A shield of bones appeared in his hands, and he shoved it against the creature to stop it's advance. Drips of its body splattered onto the ground, and a head, with a razor sharp beak at the end of it extended out of the mass of its body. It's long neck darted around Sans' shield, snapping at him. A bone appeared in his hand, and he smacked it on its nose, before he backed up, deciding to analyze his enemy a bit more. "You're one of the failed ones. Aren't you." Sans growled, a blaster appearing behind him. The eyes of the blaster glowed yellows and blues, attempting to scare the creature back. It worked only for a moment, as the creature slugged forward, another growl coming from its countless jaws. "They messed up. They messed up, and they made you. You're not all separated into your different forms. Only that dog made it out of you." Sans said. "And now you're being contained down here..."

Different forms? Did Sans know this creature? As Frisk looked harder at the morphing form of the creature, they could see faces bubbling just beneath its pale, slimy skin, which only turned their stomach more and more. For a few moments, it was dead silent, before howling again. "Sorry to have caught you in such a bad mood. But I'm getting this kid out of here." He sighed, before the blaster fired off. The creature's form split apart to avoid the blast completely, and the shock on Sans' face was undeniable.

"Welcome..." A voice came from the creature. Frisk watched, horrified, from where they believed was safe from behind Sans. "To... My... Special hell..." It said, before large jaws appeared, attempting to bite down on Sans. A large bone appeared just in time, stopping its jaws from closing, and Sans darted away from it.

"Kid, we need to get to a safe place. Keep running, and don't look back!" Sans said, grabbing Frisk's hand and pulling them along. They could hear the sloshing of the creature behind them, and they didn't dare turn back, out of fear of facing that monster once again. Frisk was starting to break down, tears streaming down their cheeks. They didn't want to be in the Underground, they didn't want to be in the Old Lab. Sans noticed this, and as they were running, he picked them up as quickly as he could, holding them in his arms as they ran. Frisk shut their eyes, and a wind whipped through the Old Lab suddenly. Another cry came from the creature, but it was... Farther away. Frisk opened their eyes, to see Sans, panting heavily. "We're... We're safe... For... For a little bit." Sans gasped. "Don't ask how... Just take a breather, kid. I need you to try to be calm for me." Sans said to them, but tears ran down their face as they looked up at them. He sighed, before fixing on a smile. "hey. kid. what did i tell you before? we're gonna be just fine, 'snow' doubt about it." Frisk sniffed, staring at him. "aw, come on. try it out."

"... Why are you... Uhm... S-so... 'Ice' to me?" Frisk stammered.

"hey, good one. but i already explained that to ya, remember? 'winter' you going to remember...?" Sans said, cracking yet another pun with Frisk. They sniffled again, drawing a sleeve across their eye. "... hey. you kinda remind me of taking care of my little brother. back when he was a little baby bones. that's right, i was young once." Sans continued to joke with Frisk, despite another roar coming from the creature's jaws. Frisk, however, lost it at this, beginning to shake violently, covering their eyes. "stay determined kid." Sans whispered, putting his hands on their shoulders. "please. this isn't just to keep your spirits up. it's to keep mine up too." Another roar. Frisk could hear the sound of it squelching down the halls. "Frisk. You are the future of humans and monsters. Please." He said in a calm voice, but the thing that shocked them the most... Was that... He knew their name. They had never told him their name, so how...?

"D-Do you think... Do you think I'm pretty?" The voice of the creature said, and Sans stood, his eye glowing bright blue and yellow.

"I think you shouldn't be picking on a kid!" Sans yelled, before blasters appeared around him, beams of blue light searing out of their mouths at the monster, before Sans grabbed Frisk, holding them to his chest and focusing on Hotlands. Not the Old Lab, but the Hotlands, with the dangerously gorgeous fields of bubbling lava, islands of stone rising far above the heated danger below, and the outside of the pristine, white lab... He stared at the monster, gritting his teeth. "You poor bastards." Sans whispered, before closing his eyes, holding the picture of the Hotlands in his mind. Everything shifted between the two travelers, and at one point, Sans nearly lost hold of Frisk. Cold, clammy air blew around them in a wind, whipping Sans' jacket around them, and in an extreme shift of temperature, it immediately turned scorching hot.

Sans let go of Frisk, beginning to fall to his knees. Frisk quickly grabbed him by his shoulders, but a stream of what looked like blood was running out of his right eye. "we're... still close to the lab, aren't we?" He asked Frisk, quickly pulling off his scarf to cover his eye. Frisk nodded quickly, and he took a shaky breath, before putting an arm around Frisk's shoulders. "let's get out of here. i bet the guards are still around or near the lab." Sans said, and they began to walk as quickly as they could. As they stumbled through Hotlands, Frisk quickly looked around for any safe spots, but none came. Sans was only getting slower over time, and Frisk thought that that was a result of how they somehow escaped the Old Lab. Each time Frisk glanced at Sans, they could only see the dark red spot on his black scarf from the blood growing and growing. They needed to get help, but who would give them it? After all, they had been labeled as criminals at large, and were currently being hunted down. "... hey... kid..." Sans spoke up, and Frisk looked down at him. His expression was one of pure agony, yet there was a calmness behind his uninjured eye... "hold on for a second. i know a place... that we can take a break." Sans sighed. "you want to go there quick, right?" Frisk nodded quickly, but they had a feeling that Sans shouldn't use his powers to make them travel anywhere else. "hold tight to me, alright..." He said, and Frisk held his hand, closing their eyes. A wind that shouldn't have been there began to blow, and when it stopped, Frisk opened their eyes.

They were now on a rocky outcropping, stationed far above the lava, but below the main pathways on the islands of rocks. A gaping cave opened up in the rocks, and Frisk wondered just what this place was. "i... needed to give toriel a status update anyways." He said, sounding even more tired than he had before. A streak of blood escaped from the makeshift bandage he had made from his scarf, and Frisk helped him into the cave. Sans slowly raised his arm, lighting up the cave as they walked, until they arrived at a large hollow. There was a large panel that appeared to be a TV hung up on the wall, and Frisk was impressed. Humans didn't have many of those, with the supplies gathered going to the war. Besides, no human would have any time to waste watching static. Below the TV were consoles, which Sans walked up to, typing in something using the buttons sticking out of its surface. The TV turned on, the buzz of static apparent for a few moments, before it whipped into tune. Frisk's heart lifted upon seeing Toriel's stern face, happy to see the one other monster who cared about them.

"I was wondering how you were..." Toriel started to say, before her words trailed off, her eyes widening upon seeing the state of the two traveler. "What happened to you two? Are you alright? Sans, your eye, it's just like it was when..." She asked, her stern tone lifting to one of a kind mother worrying over her children, leaning forward to try and see their injuries. "Tell me what happened. Tell me everything."

"... eh... well... things have gone down since we last talked. i don't think you're gonna like some of it." Sans said, taking a seat in front of the screen, staring up at Toriel with his good eye. Toriel continued to insist, however, that they should tell her everything, and Sans sighed. "alright, you asked for this. snowdin went along fine, with little to no problems. luckily, the kid didn't run into any traps set up by my brother. they fought papyrus, and i was able to defend the kid without having to kill anything. they did, however, travel through most of waterfall alone, isn't that right kid? brave one, right here." Sans started, looking down at Frisk, who nodded. "we had a run in with undyne. i kinda got stabbed by one of her spears," Toriel scowled, upon hearing that his eye wasn't the only injury he had sustained. "but we got away from her. the kid did their best to help me, but, once again, she found and attacked us. i apologize if this upsets you, toriel, but to protect them... I had to push Undyne into Waterfall's abyss. It was the only way."

"I feared as much." Toriel responded with a sigh. "If only you could teleport the both of you straight through the Underground." So that was what Sans had been doing. Teleporting.

"well, this over here is the result of that, eheh." Sans said, pointing to his bandaged eye. "but, on with the story... we went to hotlands, and i decided to stop off by alphys' lab. sorry, toriel, but even i gotta miss some people. there, guards attacked us. papyrus had told undyne, who told her guards to watch out for us. that make sense?" Toriel nodded. "anyways, we went into this elevator type thing to try and escape. it worked, until the guards cut the cords on the elevator. we fell." Sans explained to her. "... what was down there... well... toriel, have you heard of determination?"

"Of course I have. What question is that?" Toriel responded.

"not determination, as in the emotion. determination, as in the thing that only humans have." Sans said, before pulling out of his jacket, the huge vial he had taken from the weird machine in the old lab. "this stuff." It illuminated the cave with an ominous red glow, and Toriel scowled.

"Yes, I have heard of that Determination as well... Isn't that stuff dangerous to monsters? We can't take that stuff without serious consequences, if I'm correct."

"but, we can become extremely powerful. i believe that determination was being harvested from humans to be able to find how to use it safely on our soldiers. and how do i know that it was being harvested from humans? ... the kid and i here found tons of humans. well... none of them were exactly alive, but there were a ton of humans." Sans mumbled, and Toriel's face turned to horror.

"What?! Dead humans? This place... It's, it's under Doctor Alphys' lab, right?" She asked him, and he nodded. "Was there anything else to note down there?"

"... there were creatures in there, toriel. monsters made up of many other monsters. it was horrifying. i was barely able to get the kid and i out of there in time. they were... melting." He told her, and she bit her lip.

"What... Happened down there..." She whispered, before shaking her head. "When you get to Asgore, please. Do not hesitate to ask." Toriel urged them, and Sans nodded.

"... oh yeah. there was... one last thing i found in the lab down there. a log. it was on a screen, and the text it was in wasn't in any language i've ever seen. they were odd symbols instead of letters... but... i could read it. i could read it like it was my first language."

"Well, what did it say?" Toriel pressed him.

"the first entry talked about a person trying to find how determination affects young monsters. this person has two subjects, which they so creatively named 1 and 2. it said that he made them, toriel. the second entry detailed how the monsters reacted to him. the only things that i know about the monsters were that 1 was short and hostile to this guy, while 2 was tall and became attached. in the third entry, 2 was the control for his test, while 1 was the one actually injected with determination. he mentioned how he would compare their power to each other through magical tests. on the fourth entry, 1 tried to resist being injected with the determination, and the guy mentioned how he was trying to find a way to inject determination into monsters safely. the fifth log was the final one, and it said how, when 1 was injected, they wrecked the lab and escaped with 2. this guy said that he, instead of catching them, decided to sit back and see what happened. and the initials the guy signed it with were... WDG. Is that, in any way, familiar to you, Toriel?" He asked. Toriel had been listening intently, and at one point, picked up a piece of paper to jot notes down on.

"WDG... It's slightly familiar. I think that he was the previous Royal Scientist before you and Alphys. One day, he vanished completely. His name was... I believe... Wingding Gaster." She thought, taking a moment to write it down. "From what I remembered, he had good intents, but his methods were... Questionable. Nobody argued with it though, deciding to leave him to his work. Experimenting on humans was fine with everyone, but... Monsters. He created monsters to experiment on them?! That's just sick!" Toriel exclaimed. "Anyways... Sans, I believe that I'm all caught up. I'll take time to review the information you've told me, and in the mean time, here's some gold. I wish I could heal you two through the screen, but I can't. So, please. Go to the large training building run by Mettaton and Undyne at the end of Hotlands. They have healig items there." She explained to them, before typing a few things into a panel below a TV of her own. Sans got up, heading over to the panel and grabbing something that came out. "Leave some of that gold for whatever you take. I wish you two the best of luck. Keep up the good work, and try not to die, please. You two mean too much to me." She said, before leaning forward to go and quickly turn off the feed.

With a sigh, Sans sat back. "jeez. well... i'm not feeling too good, kid..." He sighed, sitting down heavily. "i don't think i can teleport us both outta here... there's a staircase out of here. i'm not sure i can get up it though..."

"I'll get something for you." Frisk spoke up, and Sans glanced at them.

"kid, you could die out there. are you really sure?" He stammered, surprised.

"If you die, then what's the point of what we've gotten through?" Frisk said, and Sans sighed.

"alright, alright. i'll give you a shortcut, alright?" Sans said. He lifted his hand, and a beam of blue light went into a tunnel. "go straight through. i can only transport you there, you'll have to make the trip back. give me a call if you need help.

"But your HP..." Frisk protested.

"1 HP isn't a big deal. just be safe." Sans said, and Frisk quickly emptied their backpack before walking through the tunnel. They were in for a rough trip back...

* * *

A wind kicked up as a result of them teleporting, and when they opened their eyes, they nearly yelped. They quickly ducked behind a large box, their heart pounding. Sans hadn't teleported them in front of the building. He had teleported them into the building, straight into the center of activity. Frisk was shaking in fear. They could hear the sounds of recruits walking through the halls, and Frisk was listening hard for a moment to move. A sigh came from a little ways away, and Frisk glanced up, seeing an orange cat wearing a rather ridiculous outfit was carrying something, his eyes fixed on the counter in front of him.

"'EY! Burgerpants, move it!" A voice came, and Frisk winced. "Gimme one of those glamburgers, will ya?"

"Yeah, yeah." Burgerpants growled, before disappearing out of sight. Frisk peeked over the box, their heart pounding. A large monster in heavy armor appeared to be bullying Burgerpants, and Frisk darted into the back of the room, which appeared to be a kitchen of some sorts. Perfect. Now, it was time for Frisk to grab a bunch of things and bring them to Sans. Without getting caught. That was a problem, though. They opened up their backpack, wincing at the sound of them unzipping it, and when they glanced back, Burgerpants was still dealing with his unruly customer, unaware of their presence. Frisk reached up to the counter, grabbing as many of the things that they could, and placing the bag of gold Toriel had given them on top of the counter. It seemed fair enough to give Burgerpants the entire thing, because he seemed to get bullied, and he had a weird nickname. Frisk couldn't help but relate, as they remembered their time in the human camps. "Hold on a second." They heard Burgerpants mumble, before beginning to walk into the kitchen. Frisk, trying their best not to slip, scrambled out of the room, their heart pounding in fear. They cracked open the back door in the kitchen, sliding through and closing it silently.

They began to move on the tips of their toes, trying not to get heard by anyone. They were glad that they had cut off the fabric of their jeans back in the Ruins, or else they would be making lots of unnecessary noise. Frisk walked as quickly as they dared, looking ahead in the halls for anything like a map, or cover to duck behind if they heard or saw anyone. A pair of voices reached their ears as they walked, one familiar, one... Not so much.

"Uhm, M-Mettaton, a-are you sure you want to do another u-upgrade?" Frisk heard Alphys stammering. There was a slight tone behind her voice, one of sadness, and Frisk wondered if she felt anything after they had fallen into the Old Lab.

"O-Of course my dear A-A-Alphys!" Mettaton said proudly. Unlike Alphys, who stammered and tripped over her own words, Mettaton's voice cut out and cut back in unnaturally. Frisk darted into cover behind a large pile of boxes that had yet to be cleaned up, as the sound of something rolling across the ground reached their ears. They crouched in the darkness of the boxes, and a bright yellow light began to cut through it. A large, box-shaped robot rolled into view, a single wheel carrying it across the ground with ease. "After a-all, I want t-t-t-to be able to use my n-new body." He said, in a deep voice.

"Uhm, y-yeah. I'll a-also fix your voice box..." Alphys stammered. Mettaton turned, sweeping the poor scientist off of her feet.

"Oh, what a happy d-d-day! You truely a-are the best R-Royal Scientist the U-Underground has seen!" Mettaton said, before dropping her and returning to rolling across the halls. Alphys began to pick herself off of the ground, going to gather a piece of paper that had landed near Frisk's hiding spot.

"I need to fix how he acts, too..." She mumbled to herself as she bent down to pick it up. Frisk shifted slightly, and her gaze snapped into the shadows, where she easily spotted Frisk. With a nervous smile, Frisk waved to her, and the expression on her face was one of pure shock. "H-how- you, you're the- you fell into th-" Alphys gasped, and Frisk quickly put a finger to their lips to signal Alphys to be quiet. Alphys stood up, glancing around, before reaching into her stack of papers, giving Frisk a dull looking map. "Where is Sans?" She whispered.

"He's safe right now, but he's injured. Thank you Alphys..." Frisk responded.

"... G-good luck. Sans cared about you, so..." Alphys shook her head, before standing up, padding after Mettaton who was far ahead by now, boasting about how good he was going to look after this. Frisk slowly squeezed out of their hiding place, holding up the map to the lights. They had just exited the kitchen, taken a right, then a left... And... Frisk stood there for about a minute, attempting to find where they were, until, finally, they sighed in relief. Finally. Frisk began to walk out of the hallway, weaving in and out of seemingly endless corridors to attempt to find their way out. Frisk went quickly, intent on getting out, evading guards and monsters, until nothing stood in their way except... The exit itself. Guards were positioned around the door, along with a very bored looking receptionist of sorts. Frisk bit their lip, wondering how to get out. They had already taken a look at the windows, which were all positioned above a straight drop into the lava below, so that wasn't a viable option.

Thinking of Sans, they took a deep breath, readying themselves to sprint. With a slap on the hard stone tiles, Frisk took off, holding their hand out to open the door. "Human!" A guard announced, and Frisk slammed full force into the door, thinking that they could push it open. Why didn't they have signs for this sort of thing... Frisk fell back, and the guards surrounded them, weapons in their hands. "I didn't know humans were this stupid..."

"Of course they're stupid! Their numbers are the only reason why we haven't won yet!" Another guard responded. "Let's take them to Mettaton."

"Wasn't Mettaton getting a visit from Doctor Alphys?"

"Doesn't matter. We'll just throw them in containment until he's available." With that, rough hands grabbed Frisk, and they closed their eyes, trying to ignore the throbbing headache they had gotten from slamming into the door. As they walked, they couldn't help but feel like they had failed Sans. At least they could still call him... Their backpack was taken off of them, and they whipped around in confusion. One guard was holding it, and was saying something about taking it to be inspected for deadly human weapons. Their phone had been in there. The guards heaved Frisk, before throwing them into a dark cell, where they crashed into the cold, stone floor. "Enjoy your time alive, human..." A guard said, before they turned, two taking up positions by the sides of the cell.

That was a horrible failure, and there was nobody to blame but themselves.

But there was one person who trusted them...

Maybe there was still a glimpse of hope.

Frisk knew only one thing.

They had to stay...

DETERMINED!


	9. Together Yet Apart

Frisk had been curled up on the hard, concrete floor for quite a while. They were unable to sleep, the nervousness of what would happen to them forcing them awake. The guards outside of their cell had been completely and totally silent, offering Frisk no chance to escape, or any chance to hear useful information. For what they thought was the fifth time, they sighed, scooting up to the bars of their cell, staring out to try and look for any escape route, if they were let out. That was the key word, 'if'. They had failed note only Sans, who they couldn't stop worrying about, but Alphys. Frisk sighed, pressing their face against the cold metal and staring out. They would have hummed a tune, to pass the time, but the guards had shouted at them to shut up, no matter how quiet they were. The sound of something rolling across the ground made Frisk scoot back, and a now familiar voice that Frisk had come to hate suddenly rung out, with the pattering of careful steps following it. "O-Oh my!" Mettaton crooned, coming within sight, his screen flashing red and yellow. "Look m-my dear A-A-Alphys!" He said, leaning forward and pointing at Frisk even though he didn't need to. "It's a little a-adorable human! I just want to _eat you up._ " He laughed, grabbing the poor scientist, Alphys by the shoulders and lifting her up.

"Y-Yes! Eat... Eat it up..." She responded, and Mettaton dropped her. She fell heavily to the ground, and some of the guards snickered. Alphys stood up, dusting off her brown jacket and her black pants, her tail twisting around her feet. Alphys looked like she wanted to say something to Frisk, who was staring at her pleadingly. After all, she was their only way out.

"Ooh, you'll be perfect for my next c-cooking show! As an... Assistant, of COURSE." Mettaton said, before making a gesture that was more like whipping non-existent hair out of his screen. "Ah, all of m-m-my fans! They'll love you." He insisted, before rolling away, chuckling to himself like he had just told the funniest joke ever. Alphys was scribbling something down on a piece of paper, before dropping it. Her tail quickly swept it through the bars of Frisk's cage, and before any of the guards could tell her she dropped something, she was running after Mettaton, full-sprint. The guards attempted to chase after her, and Frisk took their chances, reading what she had wrote.

 _Stay calm. Mettaton will try to make a show out of you, so keep him entertained and you'll live longer. You might even get rewarded. I'll get you out of here, trust me._

 _P.S. Destroy this_

The note read. Frisk let out a sigh of relief, but soon, the guards returned. "Give that piece of paper back to us so we can give it to Doctor Alphys." One ordered Frisk. Frisk stood up, holding the piece of paper and gritting their teeth, narrowing their eyes at the burly guards. "Give it to me, you filthy brat!" He said again, beginning to fiddle with the lock on the cell. Frisk, thinking quickly, ripped it up into as many shreds as possible, and as extra measure, so they wouldn't be able to piece the thing back together... The guard let out a groan, letting go of the lock, and returning to his post. Frisk had decided to eat the note due to their quick thinking. If that was a good idea or not, they didn't know, and they honestly didn't care. They knew that the paper wasn't really a food, but it was the first thing they had had in a while. Their stomach had been empty ever since they had gotten sick in the Old Lab. It had a faint taste of instant noodles, if they thought about it.

They felt guilty for eating anything when Sans was nearly dead and awaiting help back in Hotlands, but they knew that he would probably understand. After all, they didn't want to die and let him down. All they could do was wait for now, and hope that Alphys would be able to save them.

* * *

"More modifications? B-But, I jus-" Alphys stammered, and Mettaton held up a hand to silence her.

"No 'But's', my dear A-A-Alphys! I demand that I be able to put on a show for our n-new little human friend!" Mettaton countered her, his wheel spinning as he went over to her work table, clearing off her notes and tools before laying himself down onto it. Alphys tried not to cuss him out, and instead grudgingly grabbed her newest blueprints for Mettaton.

"You want the new one, don't you?" Alphys said, an idea occurring to her as she turned, a deceptive smile on her face.

"Of course I do!" Mettaton answered simply.

"Let me grab the rest of my notes real quick. I-I'll be back." She said, opening her smaller workroom's door, and pulling out her phone. She dialed Sans' phone number, hoping he was alright. After the moment it took for Alphys to lock the workroom door, she heard a painfully familiar voice speak through.

"when i got a phone call, i thought it woulda been that kid. hello al." Sans said, his voice unnaturally thick and slow. He definitely wasn't alright.

"Sans, your friend. That human. Th-They got captured by M-Mettaton. You need to help!" Alphys said urgently, tripping over her words.

"well, i'd be glad to break out my skills i've learned from being an... nevermind. i'd be happy to, butt as they might've told you, i'm kinda out of commission for a while." Sans sighed over the line, and Alphys' hopes fell.

"... I... Just... J-just, try to make it here. I'll s-stall Mettaton as long as possible." Alphys said, wondering what Sans had been talking about, before hanging up. She nearly went to grab the Mettaton blueprints, until she remembered one last contact she had. She had been good friends with them the rare times she had seen him. She always treated him to food, water, and had even given him a phone specially made for his use. Alphys dialed his number, and just a quickly as Sans, he answered with his unique, cheerful greeting. Alphys quickly gave him a run-down on the situation, and just as she suspected, he promised he would get it done, just for her.

"Aaaaalphys!" Mettaton complained from her main workroom.

"Thank you for doing this for me. You have no idea how much this means to me." She said. "I need to go no, I-I'm really sorry!" She whispered into the phone. The person on the other line began to respond.

"See you later, big-" Was all he was able to get before Alphys snapped her phone shut, gathering up a few random blueprints and carrying them into her workroom. Alphys knew that she wouldn't be able to completely dismantle Mettaton without him noticing, but she had a more subtle solution. Mettaton was... Way too efficient for his own good, and Alphys had the perfect way of making him the opposite of that. Alphys took her tools, shutting down Mettaton to be able to operate on him more easily. Less efficient was easy.

Time to get started.

* * *

Frisk was pissed, to be honest. They had not only been mocked by Mettaton, but broadcasted to every monster that managed to snag a TV. By the time that they had returned to their cell, they were just some laughing stock used for Mettaton's show. He had cut it short however, claiming that he needed his 'beauty sleep'. But Frisk knew robots didn't need sleep. Frisk returned to their cell, with the guards snickering to themselves, watching them storm in. Frisk looked up, raising their eyebrow. What? Their cell had been... Luxuriously furnished with MTT Brand furniture. They blinked. It was still there. They touched it. Still there. Alphys had mentioned Mettaton might reward them for providing a good show, but Frisk wasn't expecting this. Frisk's nose wrinkled when they found, placed on one of the tables, a steak in the shape of Mettaton. A perfect rectangle. Frisk decided not to touch the thing, instead, sitting on top of the bed, nearly sinking in completely. Okay, this was just weird. Why would your enemy do this?

Frisk sighed, staring out of the cell. Not matter how fancy this was, that didn't mean that it wasn't a jail that they couldn't get in. Frisk completely trusted Alphys, but this was getting ridiculous. It had been a few days. Was Sans alright? Had he decided to come after them? Frisk groaned, pulling at their hair. This was painfully repetitive. But what could they do? They had to keep going with this, or die. They wouldn't be surprised if they were stuck here forever.

Frisk lay there, staring at the cold, gray ceiling.

Everything was way too quiet. It was... Awful.

 ** _BOOM!_**

Frisk sat up immediately. A huge explosion rang through the entire building, and the guards ran from Frisk's cell to assist the fight going on. More explosions followed, and something was running towards their cell as quickly as possible. A yellow monster who couldn't have been taller than them ran out of the dust that was settling around the entire facility. He had a scarf tied around his neck, with what looked to be a yellow and brown sweater. "Yo!" He panted, and that was when Frisk noticed that he had... No arms. "I'm gonna get you outta here, just like my big sis Al told me to! I'm Monster Kid!" Monster Kid greeted them, before dipping his head into the pouch made by his scarf and pulling out a key. He stuck it into the lock, twisting it using only his head. With a swift movement, he pulled it out and pushed his head against the door as Frisk jumped onto the ground, helping him push the heavy metal door in. Monster Kid dropped the key back into his pouch, his tail waving like an excited dog. His cheerful expression didn't even change when another explosion went off.

"What's going on?" Frisk asked Monster Kid, as he escorted them out into the hallway.

"Oh! Yo, that's right! My big sis, Alphys, she's the royal scientist. She's really cool! She called me and told me to come and break you out of this joint!" Monster Kid explained to Alphys as they walked.

"Then why are there explosions?"

"Short skeledude! Sans! He's making a diversion!" Monster Kid said. "He looked... Er. Not so good, to be honest. But! He's really fast! Almost as cool as Alphys. All of us need to get through into the Core. I know my way through here, I stole a map!" Monster Kid said to Frisk, leaning down to grab a map out of his pouch. "Sweet, huh?" Monster Kid mumbled through it, leading them down twists and turns, flipping it up in front of his face to read it, before dropping it back down. He slid to a stop, nearly crashing into Sans, who was laughing maniacally, shooting another blast at the rush of angry guards. Alphys stood behind him, plugging her ears.

"Monster Kid! You did it!" She gasped, glancing at him. "W-We need to get out of here, quick! Sans, come on!" Alphys said to Sans. Their backs were up against a metal door, and the rush of guards pounding their way was booming in their ears. Sans created a large shield out of bones, blocking the oncoming attacks. Frisk threw the door open, and Alphys and Monster Kid ran through. Sans backed up, his eye glowing bright yellow. Frisk held it open for Sans, and he backed through, getting rid of his shield, and Frisk slammed the door, running after him. Sans blocked the door as best as he could, before sliding to a stop. The cold, hard, metal pulse of the Core was unmistakable. Sans finished his blockade by piling as many bones as he could in front of the door, before following Alphys, Monster Kid, and Frisk farther into the Core.

"well, that went well, didn't it?" Sans laughed nervously.

"We were AWESOME!" Monster Kid said, his eyes lighting up. They still couldn't stop to rest, as it wouldn't take long to get through Sans' blockade.

"Yeah, you were p-pretty cool..." Alphys said, putting a hand on Monster Kid's head. Frisk sighed in relief.

"I'm just glad you're alright, Sans." Frisk mumbled.

"monster kiddo was a cool dude and gave me some healing items." Sans said. They descended into idle chatter, trying to relax. Eventually, however, they had to stop to rest, locking themselves into a small part of the Core that was oddly warm, despite them being on hard metal. Alphys gently brought up what Sans was going to say before they had fallen into the True Lab, however, and that was when the guards weren't their problems anymore.

"... Sans? You were going to tell me something, when we were back in my lab..." Alphys said, and Sans promptly stopped yawning, his eye snapping to glowing blue.

"... oh. that. it wasn't really important."

"B-But you said..." Alphys stammered, and Sans sighed, shrugging.

"... alright. it's not really something we should talk about in front of, you know, the kiddos. but alright, if you really want to know. You remember how I got re-assigned from being a Royal Scientist to being, you know... In the army." Sans sighed, pulling up his hood and his mask. "Erm... I'm not just a soldier."

"What kind of soldier ARE you then?" She asked him. "Just say everything!" Alphys insisted.

"An assassin. Killing humans is what I do, Al. Rakes in money, too. It's fun, if you try it." He said to Alphys, who immediately scowled the moment that he mentioned that it was 'fun'. "That's why I have more HP now. Training, and killing lots and lots of humans." He said. There was a bit of maliciousness in his voice, something Frisk only associated with him being angry or when he was fighting. "I've been experimenting, to be honest. Just my old scientists roots cutting in. I've been experimenting on the best ways to kill humans. See, you can blast them, you can..." Frisk glanced at Monster Kid. His jaw was hanging open in awe. He probably thought that Sans was the coolest thing that had ever existed, judging from his expression alone. "Oh! I took off one of their heads using their own axe one time! You should have been there to see it. I even made a joke after it, like a total badass." Sans boasted to Alphys, who looked less impressed, and more disgusted.

"... Sans? Please tell me this is a joke." She said, and Sans' eyes turned pitch black.

"Every word is true. If you learned how to fight, you would like it too. It's a good stress reliever." He said.

"... Wha- No. Sans. Sans, this is not you. Y-You're a really nice, f-funny skeleton. You wouldn't h-hurt anything. You like puns, your br-brother, science... Not fighting... N-Not slaughtering humans..." Alphys stammered, gritting her teeth. "What happened to my best friend?" She asked him, her tone dead serious. That was when Sans stood up, his eye glowing purple.

"Oh, let me guess, Alphys. We're not friends anymore because I need to do my job?" Sans said sarcastically, staring down at her. She got up as well.

"S-Sans, listen to yourself. Priding yourself in killing poor people?"

"The same 'poor' people that trapped us down here in the first place?! HUH?" Sans shouted. Frisk and Monster Kid were dead silent, with Monster Kid no longer wearing his goofy expression. "Oh, and I'm the bad guy for taking out the trash!"

"They have feelings too, Sans! We can... N-no. There's other ways to settle this with humans th-than just killing them..." Alphys persisted, and Sans snorted, staring her in the eyes.

"Tell that to Asgore for me, Alphys. Tell me how long you'll stay the Royal Scientist. Because I know where you were before you became a Royal Scientist. Do you really, really want to go down back to the dump with those two girls to pick out your little shows? To return to that shack you call a home?"

"They're not little shows, Sans!" She shouted, tears falling from her eyes. Apparently, Sans had struck hard... "They're anime... T-They're the... It... It makes me feel... L-like... I have... Friends..." Alphys whispered.

"You have friends, Doc. You just lost one, though." Sans growled.

"Good! B-Because... You... You are NOT MY FRIEND! You never were! You were the only person to talk to, and I... I-I just... I get too a-attached too e-easily! And... A-and... I never knew that you were... S-Such... Such an a-awful person!" Alphys started to sob, and shoved Sans out of the way of the door, opening it and running into the Core. Sans pulled his hood tighter around his face, his eyes pitch black. What he was feeling was unclear, but Frisk knew that they couldn't leave Alphys. She had helped them, so she might get caught by the guards... Frisk walked past Sans, with Monster Kid following them. Frisk was leaving one of their friends to get another, while one was by their side. But still, they never felt more alone in their life. They could never understand what it was like to be a monster, no matter how much they might want to be one. And no amount of wishing was going to change that.

...

There was a chance, though. There was always a chance, no matter how bad things got. And that little glimmer of hope, with their friends split apart, but still by their side...

It filled Frisk...

With...

Determination!

Even if it was a little less Determination than it had been before.


	10. A King, A Flower, And Determination

Of course simple people wouldn't get why he did what he did. They hadn't seen the full extent of the war. He had. He had documented the huge weapons the humans built and tested, while eliminating a few important humans along the way, along with slaughtering their more disposable soldiers. Sans leaned up against the wall of the Core, watching Frisk and Monster Kid leave with a slight smirk underneath his scarf. Oh, he admitted it. His year of time serving had changed him, and Sans knew it well. He had promised to keep it a secret, just like Toriel and Asgore had told him to do, and he had broken that promise. What could he be expected to do? After all, he was just some lowlife who made money off of killing humans... Some of them looked too young to be in the army. Just like the monster's army... Sans gritted his teeth, his eye glowing purple as he realized what he had done. He didn't care if Papyrus knew. After all, he despised his brother. But Alphys was his best friend next to Toriel, and he had just... And after Toriel found that he had broken his promise to her... He slid to the floor, sitting against the wall, feeling nothing but guilt. He thought he was a god of death and judgement, bringing justice to humans who murdered monsters.

But he had judged all humans except the only one that mattered to him the same way. Heartless, cruel bastards that wanted nothing more than to kill monsters. He bet the humans thought the monsters were savages as well. Sans sighed heavily, staring at the ceiling. Of course... He embodied the savage monster stereotype the humans put on the monsters. It didn't help that he was infamous to anyone who had seem him and survived to tell the tale. Everyone with a brain and ears had heard the tale of a skeleton who came armed with lasers and heavy artillery, disintegrating everything that came near him. Soldiers lived in fear of him. But he wasn't a god. Far from it. Gods were unstoppable, gods shouldn't care about anything. But he had been felled by suddenly realizing just how weak he was. One hit, and he was down a quarter of his health. He didn't have one HP only, which he had been used to during waiting for Frisk in Hotlands, but he had zero defense. He had even killed... Undyne. He hadn't told Alphys that. He was glad he didn't, but he needed to. Sans stood, taking a hand out his pocket to open up the door, before coming face to face with someone he had openly defied and never listened to. His eye glowed purple and yellow as he faced them, a nervous smile on his face. "wow. you sure look pissed. hello there commander."

Undyne reached forwards, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "Hello yourself, you traitor. Do you know how long it took me to get back here?"

"i can see what you left behind. dropping your armor, only keeping your regular clothes and your eyepatch?" He raised his hands in a shrug, looking at Undyne fearlessly. The rest of the purple left the glow of his eye, turning to green and yellow. "that's some dedication." Sans laughed. "so, how was the trip?"

"I spent DAYS barely making progress swimming up that damn waterfall! I slept in a clump of trash to rest!" Undyne snarled, and Sans laughed.

"well, you'll be glad to hear that that human I was protecting is safe and sound!" He said, and Undyne's scowl turned into a sneer.

"Listen, you bastard. I've no idea why Asgore and Toriel want to keep you around, especially after what you've done to me." She said, dropping Sans and dusting off her hands. "But you're to stay alive, unless I get orders otherwise. But we caught two monsters running around in the Core helping a human and thinking they could get away from the law! Three people in total. I mean, I think it was three. Guards told me it was three-" Undyne shook her head. "I haven't seen them yet, alright? Anyways, bring 'em forward!" She commanded the guards, and six guards came forward, each one holding an arm of their respective prisoners. Sans' eyes immediately turned black, but he shook his head, staring at Frisk. "Human and two monsters! That look on your face is priceless!" Undyne turned to see their prisoners, and she took a step back, her eyes widening in shock. "Alphys?!" She ran up to the Royal Scientist, who turned her face away from Undyne, shaking in her boots. Even her tail was wrapped around her legs. "What are you doing? You were helping a human?"

'W-... Un... U-Undyne, I. I just. They're a kid, o-okay? They haven't killed or hurt anything! S-Sans... He... He's just trying to get the h-human through safely. M-Monster Kid here is, um, innocent. He's like a little brother to me, please d-don't hurt him!" Alphys blurted out, unable to face Sans after what had happened. She had burst out saying that he wasn't her friend, that he never was, before storming out. Unbeknownst to her, Monster Kid and Frisk followed to get her. When she was caught by Mettaton, who was now posing in the front of Undyne's group of guards, she was appalled to see both Frisk and Monster Kid rounding the corner and rushing bravely in to try and fight Mettaton. He simply caught them as well, shackling them up just as easily as someone would tie their shoes. Alphys needed help from Sans, and she couldn't bear to get it from him. She still felt that Sans wasn't the Sans she was friends with a year ago, and wondered exactly why he did it, other than: It was his job, and, the monsters are trapped down here by the humans. But, she could save this for later. Right now, she was facing against one of the strongest monsters in the Underground, her very own killing machine, and many, many guards. What could she do? The look on Sans' face was completely and totally deadpan, contrasting heavily to when he was smiling and laughing mere moments before. He stared at Alphys, his eye beginning to glow red, before glancing up at Undyne and gritting his teeth.

"Alphys, you don't understand." Undyne started to explain to Alphys, as Sans glanced around. So. Which way to... Oh. Yes, he knew where to go now. He tapped his foot, sighing as his eye began to glow red and blue at the same time. Without warning, he snapped, clapping his hands. Bones appeared out of the ground, pinning everyone except Alphys, Monster Kid, and Frisk to the walls. He only added more and more, until they were bound in his magic, stuck to the wall. Undyne was busy yelling curses, and when Frisk ran over to Sans, he put his hands over their ears, smiling down at them before turning back to Undyne.

"i don't care if you don't believe me, but the queen herself told me to bring this human to safety. so, here i am. either run all the way down to the Bunker at the edge of Snowdin to get her word yourself, or trust me and let us go." He said, for once, his tone completely and totally serious, without smiling or laughing like a maniac like he normally would. He narrowed his eyes, staring at Mettaton and Undyne, who he had pinned side by side. "but, let's be honest. you're not getting out of there anytime soon. hey, doc. mind if i put your robot out of commish for a while?" He asked Alphys, his eye turning more blue than red. She nodded slowly, and he walked up to Mettaton. "welp, you heard her. sorry. but you were defective in the first place." With that, he pierced even Mettaton's head to the wall, before walking up to the board on his chest. "let's see. up up down down left-... doc, this is the worst password for your robot ever." He said, before sighing and giving up on trying to hack Mettaton, deciding to just destroy his battery via many, many more bones. When he was done, Mettaton left in a smoldering, sparking wreck, he turned back to Undyne. "if you try anything, you'll be next." He said, his eye returning to a perfect balance of red and blue. With that, he led everyone off, with Monster Kid telling him how awesome he thought he was. Alphys, however, merely had questions.

"... Why did... W-why did you help us? Me? I just..." She said, trembling as they walked. Sans sighed, looking down at her tail, which wrapped around her legs above her knees. With a simple magic spell, he made her tail unwrap, before shrugging.

"i make too many promises lately, y'know? once, i told someone... i told someone that i promised to protect any friend i had. no matter what the cost was. and i realized something. war's a hellhole, doc. but that doesn't mean that i should act like... you know." He went over to Monster Kid and Frisk, putting his hands on their ears. But since he didn't have four hands, he merely smashed their faces together. Same difference. "an asshole. i'm going to admit something to you, doc. i love my job. really, i do. there's nothing better to me than slaughtering humans for the good of monsters. i mean, i did think that. but i realized somethin'. here we've got our own little human friend. they haven't hurt anything. no, not even when they were mad, or scared. i protected them, and they did the right thing in return. so i know that all humans aren't horrible. maybe they can change. even the most terrible person. even i can change." Sans explained to Alphys, his tone hiding nothing about how he felt about what he was talking about. "even the most horrible person i..." His eyes widened, and he took his hands off of Monster Kid and Frisk, who thankfully separated, and walked apart from each other. Far apart from each other. "the most horrible person i know. p... papyrus. i know... i know what he did." He whispered.

Alphys was going to comment on his speech, but the last thing he said grabbed her attention. "Papyrus? H-He's the most horrible person you know?" She exclaimed, and Sans looked like he was about to snap back into insanity again.

"Alphys. I know what he did! I knew. I knew there was some reason why I hated him. But I always forgot. I could never quite get it, until... Until now! listen. i'm sure you guys need to take a rest after this... so... go ahead and crash in my spare place in new home. i swear, it's clean. wait for me there until i get back. do not leave, no matter what. keep walking down... that hallway." He pointed, his eye glowing green and blue now, all traces of red gone. "you'll be there in a second. i'll be there quick. don't worry. keep yourselves safe. 'specially you, kid." Sans said, patting Frisk's head, before turning around and beginning to walk.

"B-But, Sans! Wait, Undyne is b-back th-" When she leaned past the corner he had rounded... He was gone. Like he was never even there. Alphys stared back at him for a few moments, before shaking her head and picking up Monster Kid, running with Frisk. Maybe Sans wasn't quite as bad as she initially thought he was...

* * *

Sans sighed, walking through Snowdin. He had, of course, stopped off by Grillby's. He had gotten, not only a few bottles of ketchup for himself, but had dropped off some food for everyone at his place in New Home. They were probably there by now anyways. Sans rubbed his eyes, before opening up the door to his old house, instantly breaking the doorknob with a slight bit of magic. It was late at night by now on the surface, so his brother was home. Instantly, the tall skeleton burst through the door to his room, looking around. "Who goes there?" He yelled, his bone-sword in his hands. He glanced around, before noticing Sans, staring down at him. "... What are you doing back here." He hissed, and Sans gave him a huge smile, waving at him.

"hello brother of mine!" Sans greeted him, sitting down on the couch, his eye glowing red. Papyrus stepped back, staring at Sans suspiciously.

"... Your eye is glowing red, Sans... What the hell are you pissed about?" Papyrus said, his eyes beginning to glow orange. Sans shrugged, laughing .

"oh. you know exactly what i'm mad about, papyrus. you thought i would have forgotten, wouldn't you?" Sans said, his right eye managing to spark. "My eye. You remember what happened to my eye. You remember well, because you're the one who injured me. You nearly killed me, that day, Papyrus. Just because I was tired. Just because I was overworked." He said, keeping his smile and staring at Papyrus, who walked toward Sans, his bone sword ready to strike his brother.

"How... How would you remember that. I knocked you out..." Papyrus whispered, and Sans shrugged.

"Oh, how would I remember? It's only my EYE, Papyrus." Sans said, getting up. "If you're so against laziness, then why not be out training all the time? Besides, I'm too weak, I'm too stupid to do anything. You said it yourself, brother of mine." Sans said, seemingly completely unconcerned by being faced with Papyrus' sword. "Well... Want to see how weak I am, Papyrus?"

"It... It would be a waste of my time. Get out." Papyrus growled, staring at his brother, his own eyes starting to glow red. Sans' right eye, the one Papyrus had injured, gave off another spark of light, and Sans laughed. "What's so funny?"

"I'm going to take that as a yes, actually, and ignore everything you just said." Sans said, and a blaster appeared out of nowhere, shooting Papyrus, who rolled out of the way, facing Sans, contempt in his eyes. "Ooh, you're quick. Even quicker than me." Sans said, staring back at him. "Impressive. Well, Papyrus..." Sans muttered. "What do you have to admit? To, you know. Everyone." Sans broke a wall.

"... You're milking it, Sans. You know exactly what happened. You were sleeping at your post, I caught you, and I reprimanded you, nearly killing you on the way. I wouldn't have cared if you crawled off and died in the forests, or found help. Which, well, you did. I was honestly kind of disappointed. At least you forgot it for a while." Papyrus said, his voice devoid of any sympathy for his brother. Sans looked bored, and held up a box, pressing a red button on the top of it, and a black button right next to it. " _You know exactly what happened. You were sleeping at your post, I caught you, and I reprimanded you, nearly killing you on the way. I wouldn't have cared if you crawled off and died in the forests, or found help._ " Papyrus' words played back to him, and he leaped forward, swinging at the recorder, which Sans held out of his reach.

"thanks for admitting it, brother of mine. now, i would never kill you, oh no no. no matter how much i may despise you, i have something more important to do than blast you to pieces. what do you think the king or the queen would think if they found that one of their top soldiers had nearly killed, again, another important asset in the war?" Sans taunted his brother, walking around him casually, replaying the recording again as he put his hand on the door. "better run to new home, brother of mine. time's running out." Sans whispered, before closing the door. Papyrus threw open the door to his house, deciding to chase after Sans and take back the recording, but he was long gone, with only a single pair of footsteps in the snow. Papyrus nearly slipped as he ran, his armor clanking as he sprinted. New Home. He needed to get to New Home before Sans could destroy both his career and his reputation.

* * *

"hello team!" Sans said cheerily, stepping through the door of his place in New Home. "how are you doing?" Alphys, Frisk, and Monster Kid had gotten there safely, and Sans would have let out a sigh of relief if he hadn't made his entrance the way he did. Frisk jumped up, hugging him. "okay, okay, you're alright ki-" The recording that he had made began to play, and Frisk let go of him, and Monster Kid and Alphys ran up to him to listen as Sans frantically tried to pause it. But after a few moments, of him trying, it was too late.

"... Was... W-was that Papyrus?" Alphys asked, and Sans' eye began to glow blue as he stuffed the recording back into his pocket.

"maybe. okay, fine, yes. my right eye doesn't glow, and now you know why. don't worry about it, alright? i'm fine now. we don't have to worry about that right now. we're nearly to the end, kiddo! get excited!" Sans said, before handing out his bags of food to everyone and taking a seat on the couch, popping open the cap on his ketchup bottle and drinking it.

"If you want m-me to forget about that, um, m-message, I will, but... Sans. Don't... D-Don't you get drunk from drinking ketchup somehow?" Alphys said, and Sans shrugged.

"lay off... there's some ways that i need to forget this stuff." Sans sighed, and Frisk and Monster Kid ran over to the table, and after a few moments, Alphys followed them.

It didn't take long for them to finish, and Sans had grudgingly stopped drinking his ketchup, before getting ready to leave. Frisk was tired, worn out from the run in with Undyne, Mettaton, and the guards, but they had decided it was best to not mention it. Monster Kid was more than ready, following Sans and watching him closely to see what he did. Looked like Monster Kid had a new idol other than Alphys. Alphys had found a huge stash of ketchup, but she decided not to mention that. She was, once again, ready. With that, they left in a group, with Sans leading them through New Home, using what they could to disguise themselves and move through New Home without being seen.

Soon, they were at the foot of the white palace that was where Asgore, the king of all monsters lived. Not to mention that it was crawling with the most advanced guards available to the monsters. Sans, instead of going around the side, entered straight through the front door, cutting straight through the rooms, on his way to Asgore's Throne Room. Frisk decided it was better than to question it, and soon, they were at the door, with zero troubles from... Well. Anyone. Nobody seemed to be there, for some reason. Sans knocked on the door with a lazy yawn, and after a few moments, it opened just a crack, before opening fully.

"Ah! Sans! Hello there!" A tall, huge goat man that reminded Frisk of Toriel appeared. He wore armor and a cape just like Toriel, along with a crown in his nest of tidy yellow hair. His purple eyes shone down kindly at them, and Frisk bit their lip, staring back at him nervously.

"he-ey there asgore!" Sans said, and struggled out of Asgore's crushing grip on his shoulders. Asgore let him go, and Sans pushed Frisk in front of him. Frisk raised a hand nervously to wave. "I suppose Toriel has told you about my mission, right? About this kid?" Sans asked him seriously. Asgore nodded and sighed.

"Thank you, by the way. I'm sure it's been very hard. I'm sorry about any troubles you might have had." Asgore said, and beckoned for Frisk to follow him. "I've cleared out all of the soldiers from the building, so you wouldn't get any trouble." He said. "We're close to the exit, so don't worry... It feels nice to have a child to take care of again. Reminds me of my own two children." Asgore said, and swept Frisk up in his arms. "Any troubles you might have caused getting here, I promise I will clear up. Don't worry about it." He reassured the child, and their travelling party. Monster Kid, Sans, and Alphys followed close behind the king and Frisk. After a few minutes of walking through winding tunnels and halls, Frisk swore they could smell fresh air. Asgore set Frisk down, before falling to his knees, as Sans slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Good luck, little one. I, once again, apologize for anything that might have happened to you..." He said, and gave Frisk a smile. "You will always be welcome in my ho-" Clods of dirt and stone slammed into the monsters, and Frisk yelped, backing away from the king.

Vines, laced with blood red thorns, horribly familiar to the innocent child, were pierced straight through Asgore. His eyes were wide, and a stream of blood leaked out of his mouth. The vines ripped out of him, and Asgore fell to the ground, blood spilling out of him. Frisk could only let out a whimper, as a laugh rang through the tunnels. Alphys ran over to the king, turning him over with the help of Monster Kid and Sans, as a flower rose out of the ground, a huge smile on its face. It's petals were yellow and orange, laced with veins of blood red... "Howdy there, everyone! Wow, what a nice day to be nearly dead? Hello there, king of monsters! Hello there, human! And smiley trashbag!" Flowey said, and Frisk was shivering in fear. "Oh, you can't forget the nerdy scientist and the armless kid!" He said, and his vines retracted into the earth, before reappearing around him as he began to howl with laughter again. Sans ran over to Frisk, placing them on their feet and taking them farther away from Flowey. "Man, those were aimed to hit the human, not the king! Oh well!" Flowey giggled to himself, raising his vines into the air again, staring down at his enemies with a toothy grin, before it contorted into a look of surprise.

"Asgore!" A painfully familiar voice was heard, and Toriel, the queen, ran to Asgore's side, along with Undyne and Papyrus, following the queen's lead. Mettaton rolled in after them, staring up at the abomination of a monster in front of them. "You..." Toriel stood up slowly, taking her sword hilt out and using her fire magic to create her firey blade. A spider woman, who had been running after Toriel quickly put her hand on Toriel's shoulder, gritting her pointed fangs and hissing something to Toriel. "Stay out of this Muffet! We... We're going to finish this! You did this! Now... Now you're going to pay! Rally here and attack!" A cheer went through the group of monsters, now having a leader in Toriel, and all at once, everyone rushed at Flowey.

United by a common enemy, they attacked. Maybe if they lived, Frisk could finally leave. But did they really want to leave the few people who genuinely cared about them? They couldn't think about now. The thought of being able to defeat Flowey, to get back onto the surface...

It filled Frisk with...

Determination!


	11. End

**AN: 4000 views! Nicely done everyone! You have no idea how much work I've put into this AU, and I've tried my best! If you've enjoyed Understrife, then damn, you're probably going to enjoy the No Mercy Route of Understrife. Yes, I will be writing it.  
I've been asking around on DeviantART and other websites to ask if experienced AU creators thought Understrife was a good idea, and lo and behold, the creator of Monofell enjoyed the idea! I will be putting even more work into this AU now. But I've been rambling long enough, and you've been waiting for this entire chapter for quite a while.  
This is the final battle!**

* * *

A vine slammed into the ground by Frisk, and they quickly darted aside. "Yes, resist! Resist harder! Be entertaining! We have our contestants here! An armless thief, a complete nerd, a queen reduced to a nursemaid, a fish outta water, smiley trashbag one, smiley trashbag two, a wounded king..." Flowey turned to Frisk as his vines twisted around his face as he grew larger, until everyone faced a disgusting, pulsating, wilted looking overgrown creature, laced with blood red thorns. "And you... Human... You're the only thing that I need. You have so much Determination. More Determination than any human that has ever existed..." He whispered to Frisk, his vines digging into the floor and creating spiked hills in the stones and dirt. The whip of vines sounded behind Frisk, and they turned to see everyone that they had met, everyone who had decided to rally against Flowey... They had all been restrained in the vines, and Frisk heard their cries of pain. Frisk gasped, running up to them. They could see Toriel and Asgore attempting to reach out for each other, and Sans' eye flickering between purple and blue as he attempted to shoot Flowey with a blaster. Frisk was about to raise their puny weapon, a mere stick out to try to pry the vines off, until, with another lash of vines, their friends, the people they had met along their journey, were completely and totally covered with the vines.

A huge smile was on Flowey's face, the light of the Exit glowing from behind him for a split second before vines lashed across its opening, and he cackled with laughter. "These monsters... Some of them have the most powerful SOUL's across this timeline. They just... Don't realize it. How idiotic can they be?" He said, waving his incapacitated packages in front of Frisk's face, before all of the vines squeezed down. Frisk's eyes opened, hearing the horrible crunch, the yells, the blood dripping down onto the stones from the vines. Flowey... He just killed... Flowey burst out into mirthless laughter, swinging the bodies up into the air as different colored SOUL's glowed in front of the bundles of vines where the monsters' bodies were trapped, blood splattering down like rain in front of Flowey. White, dark blue, cyan, green, purple, yellow, and orange SOUL's danced around Flowey's face, which was framed perfectly in the vines. "So... Frisk." Flowey said, addressing them by their real name. Frisk was merely staring at the blood of their friends on the ground, their back turned to Flowey. "I'll let you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to get your SOUL. And with that, I'll be completely unstoppable. Control of the timelines? Resets? Saves? All. Mine." He laughed. After a few moments without a response from Frisk, he scowled, vines raising to constrict them to death. "Or, perhaps, this will be easier than I thought." He whispered.

Time seemed to stop, as vines lashed out from Flowey's center, and Frisk turned, confused. What? Everything... Was still. Except for them. Frisk stepped back, from Flowey, beginning to panic. The hot red blood on the ground splashed onto their shoes and their legs, and they immediately attempted to yank their leg out of it. It was stuck, as if the blood was cement. "W-What's going on?" Frisk whispered. Their tiny voice, even in this massive room, began to echo and reverberate on the hard stone walls. "Please? Anyone? ... Sans...?" They stammered, holding their stick tightly to their chest as they looked around them, raising a hand to sweep the dark brown hair from their face. Frisk turned to stare at Flowey. The horrible, dripping tangles of vines that encased the body of their friends, drops of blood suspended in the air. "Help me..." Frisk asked to nobody once more. "... I'll do anything..." They whispered, tears beginning to run down their face.

" _I was hoping that you would say that._ " A sweet sounding voice suddenly said, and Frisk could feel another's hands on their shoulders. They whipped around as best as they could with their feet stuck in the concrete blood. Nobody was there though. Frisk turned again, and let out a yelp, nearly falling backwards when they saw another child standing in front of them. They were exactly the same height as them, with crimson eyes, light brown hair, rosy cheeks, and a green and yellow striped shirt. " _Hello there, Frisk. It's nice to finally meet you._ " They said, and Frisk bit their lip.

"You know my name?!" They exclaimed, and the child reached up, patting their head.

" _I know much more than your name, Frisk. I know who that really is._ " They said, pointing at Flowey. " _He didn't even have the time to cleanly kill them... At least he did it... Hm. Gruesomely. I heard those crunches. Satisfying sound, is it not? It's like snapping a wishbone at Thanksgiving._ "

"A-Are you commending him on killing my friends?!" Frisk yelped. "L-Listen, I don't know who you are, but..."

" _Frisk, you're so cold. I'm you. But, if calling another person Frisk is confusing... I'm Chara. Chara Dreemurr. And you've been my vessel for a long time. You've forgotten me, and it's hurt. Back in what Sans called the Old Lab, I was hoping you'd slap that Amalgamate across the face with your little stick. All it took would have been a little bit of_ LOVE." Frisk raised an eyebrow, staring at Chara. _"But, Frisk. Let me explain something to you. Do you really think you can reason with Flowey? No is the answer. Anyways, partner, you need to kill him. There are no exceptions. Do you have Sans anymore to babysit you? Again, no is the answer. Because he's dead. So, take matters into your own hands... Or..._ "

"What?" Frisk said, beginning to get Chara's logic.

" _If you don't want to kill him yourself, I can take care of him. While saving your friends. So, Frisk. Let me handle this for you. And you can sit back and watch._ " Chara whispered, and Frisk bit their lips. All they wanted... Was the best for their friends. And... If Chara could bring them back, that was a chance they had to take. They nodded firmly, and Chara raised a hand, whipping the blood up around Frisk, slamming it into them. Their vision immediately became completely red, until finally, it brightened into white. Bright, brighter, yet brighter...

[ SAVE 1 LOADED ]

The yells of their friends suddenly rang in their ears, and they immediately tried to move. But suddenly, they moved. Without their help. Chara was in control now, and they were helpless to do anything. As Flowey's vines lashed out, prepared to grab their friends, Chara leaped forwards, slamming their stick, no... Their knife into the vines. Their colors changed, as the vines were completely split apart. Everyone behind Chara stopped. Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Muffet, Mettaton, and even Asgore, who had made the attempt to get up and try to fight with them. Chara swept their light brown hair away from their face, their eyes glowing as they stared at Flowey, a huge smile on their face. "Hello there Flowey. Do you remember me?" They taunted him, and Flowey stared down at them, trying not to shake.

"... Chara." Flowey said, and they giggled in response to their name. Sans had a look of horror on his face as he stared at Chara's back.

"no no no no- Frisk, what did you do?!" He exclaimed, his eye glowing purple as he ran towards Chara. Chara didn't even turn, as they slashed the air, slicing a red mark, which flew towards Sans, hitting him head on. He was blasted backwards, and Toriel quickly ran forwards to catch him, staring at Chara in disbelief. "Why... Would you do this, Frisk?" He whispered. Frisk gritted their teeth, unable to see Sans, only able to face Flowey and stare at his surprised face. Flowey gritted his teeth.

"... No! This doesn't change anything!" Flowey yelled. "All of your pitiful lives will be mine! It doesn't matter what you try, Frisk, you're not going to win!" He said, vines slamming forward to hit Chara, who darted forwards, the vines missing them completely. They ran through lines of what Frisk had nearly been killed by when they first had fallen down into the Underground, knife raised to strike Flowey. A barrier of vines twisted to block their hit, but the vines were merely sliced through as if they were butter. It was clear that Flowey was panicking at this point, as vines twisted and turned towards Chara, who merely leaped on the tops of them. Flowey realized that he was just giving Chara a platform to get them up closer to them, and dropped them out completely, but not before Chara pushed off of the dark green surface, their red eyes gleaming. A toothy smile was on their face as they stabbed into Flowey, who screeched. That hit alone had taken out nearly half of his health. His health began to whittle down, as Chara backed away from Flowey, laughing cheerfully to themselves, as if they hadn't just nearly killed a giant flower monster. Flowey gritted his teeth, taking his vines off of his face. The knife's slash had hit straight down the side of his face, and Frisk was horrified.

What had they done?

"Chara..." Flowey whispered, attempting to attack them as he spoke. "Chara! Don't you remember?! Who I am?!" He exclaimed. Chara slashed the air, red slices cutting through the air to destroy his attacks. "I don't know how you did this... I don't know how you took over Frisk, but I know that-" His words were promptly interrupted by a white blast that nearly hit Chara, who darted away at the last moment. Their eyes shone in the searing white light, staring at the crowd of monsters behind them. Sans was standing on top of a blaster, gritting his teeth as he stared at Chara.

"I know that you should be burning in hell." Sans finished for Flowey. Another shot fired off, and Chara moved aside casually. Frisk was attempting to take back their body, fighting with Chara's overpowering mind, but it was impossible. It was as if they were concrete.

"GET OVER HERE!" Flowey yelled, his vines whipping forward to catch all of Frisk's friends, trapping all of them immediately. "I'm stronger than you Chara! I'm going to win! I'm going to beat you!" Frisk was determined to get Chara out, determined to save their friends! Suddenly, the sensation of slipping came over Frisk, and they began to panic, their heart racing. What happened? What did they-

With a grunt, Frisk met the stone floor, their head hurting as they realized that they had gotten out of Chara's trap. They let out a sigh of relief, standing up, but they stopped halfway. Chara was still standing right in front of them. Slowly, they turned to face Frisk, their eyes fixing onto Frisk. "Where do you think you're going, partner?" They whispered. Flowey had even stopped. Apart from Chara, everything was dead silent. "Why did you leave?" Chara asked. Frisk, whimpering, backed up. Flowey could become a potential ally in this. It appeared he didn't like Chara, so Frisk decided to take a chance. "Hm... Where are you going? I trusted you." Chara said, feigning sounding hurt. Chara began to walk after Frisk, who pressed up against Flowey, who decided to attack Chara. They simply sliced his attacks aside, and Chara sighed. "I don't understand." Black light bled out of Chara, enveloping the entire room until only Chara, Frisk, and Flowey were left.

"I don't understand why you're doing this!" Flowey said, beginning to shrink back into his original form, gritting his teeth. "Chara, what is wrong with you? Don't you remember... Anything?" He said, and Chara sped up, until they were in front of Frisk, who had gotten in front of Flowey, arms outstretched to block Chara. Chara merely shoved Frisk aside, knocking them to what must have been the floor in this black void, and Flowey leaned away from Chara as they bent down to stare Flowey in the eye. "Don't you remember who I am? Remember what I did for you? P... Please?!" The colored SOULS flew down, circling around Flowey, as he absorbed them, taking them into his body. Still, Chara was unmoved. What had Flowey just done? Frisk stared at Flowey in shock as his body began to glow white. But Chara didn't move. His body formed, glowing and twisting into an actual body. The light broke off of Flowey as he shook off the glowing.

Standing before the two human children was a monster child, similar to Toriel and Asgore. Achingly similar. Was this... The child launched himself at Chara, gritting his teeth. Instead of attacking them, however, he hugged them tightly, sobbing. "I-I was Asriel! Your... Y-Your best friend! Why don't you remember!" Asriel said. Chara was dead silent, lifting their arm, the one with the knife. They turned it, about to plunge it into the back of Asriel. "I... I was your brother..." Frisk ran forward, tackling the two and managing to split Chara away from Asriel. Frisk held Asriel's shoulders, staring at Chara, mistrust in their dark brown eyes.

"... Oh. Asriel. I remember. I remember everything. Like... When we made that pie for dad. We used buttercups, instead of cups of butter. That made him sick. Do you remember that?" Chara began to speak. Asriel nodded slowly, staring at Chara in confusion. "... But I was thoroughly disappointed. He didn't die. Asriel, it would have been easy to pin his death on you. After all, I was the king and queen's innocent, confused, adopted human child. It was clear that I would not be able to rule the monsters... But I was trusted. You remember how much mom broke down when dad was so sick? She wouldn't be able to rule like that. So... Of course... If Asgore died, you would be made king. And you've always wanted to be king. You thought it would be fun. So, I decided, if I got Asgore out of the equation by poisoning him, I could easily pin it on the child that most wanted to be the ruler of the Underground. You. Then, you would be taken away, and I would be made ruler. Do you see? Do you see how blind you've been?" Chara purred to Asriel, patting his head. "Of course, I would expect nothing less from a dull, dopey monster."

Asriel gritted his teeth, tears falling out of his eyes as he stared at Chara. "... Monsters... Are... Not... Stupid!" He said, getting up and sending a beam of fire at Chara, who dodged it easily. They stopped, putting a hand up to their head, and grabbing a hair. The very tip was smoldered.

"I see how this is going to go." Chara said, dropping it and running towards Asriel, slicing at him. He quickly darted away, and Frisk realized with a jolt... They had no weapon. As they ran beside Asriel, they began to dig through their backpack.

"Was your entire friendship with me just to sabotage me? Did you not... Enjoy our family? Even a little bit?" He asked Chara, who shrugged, slicing at Asriel, who quickly blasted them away with a quick burst of fire. Frisk's hands came across a strange container... They pulled it out, and realized what it was. It was... The butterscotch pie Toriel had made for them at the start of their journey. Maybe... Frisk popped open the lid, taking out the slice and raising it into the air. Chara stopped, staring at it, along with Asriel. Frisk bit their lip, looking at them, completely confused. "... That's... Mom's..." Asriel whispered. Chara dropped their knife, walking over to Frisk.

"... There were some good things about you family, Asriel. And... Sometimes... I even started to care about you guys. And this was my favorite thing at the time." Chara said, as Frisk slowly sat down, showing it to Chara and Asriel.

"Chara?" Asriel asked them, taking the slice from Frisk and turning to Chara. "... Are... Do you think... That maybe... Maybe we are siblings? Maybe... I'm your best friend?" He asked them, holding it out to Chara. Chara bit their lip. The smell of it wrenched their heart. Chara laughed slightly, taking it from Asriel.

"Yeah. Maybe." They said. With that, the darkness brightened. Bright. Brighter. Yet... Brighter.

[ SAVE 1 LOADED ]

This time, everyone stopped immediately. There had just been a flower. Who was attacking them. And now... There was Chara, Asriel, and Frisk. Toriel bit her lip, running up to Asriel and Chara, scooping them up into a hug, tears running down her cheeks. "M-My children!" She whispered. "... Did... Did any of you see what happened?" She said, glancing behind them at everyone. Everyone except Sans shook their heads or said 'no'. "Where did that flower go? And... How..." She said, turning back to Asriel and Chara, letting them go. "I don't understand? What happened?"

"... H-Hey..." Asriel said slowly, gritting his teeth and groaning, digging his hand into his head. The SOULS he had taken before the save loaded whipped out of his body, exploding into millions of glowing shreds, before disappearing. Asriel sighed, sitting down. "Without the SOULS, I won't be like this for long. G-Guess I didn't think that out, huh?" He laughed nervously, biting his lip. Of course, Chara didn't have to worry about that. Frisk's SOUL was shared with Chara. But Asriel didn't have that luxury.

"Asriel, what do you mean?" Toriel whispered, taking him by his shoulders. "Why won't you tell me what happened?"

"... Because you hated me." He laughed grimly, shaking her hands off of him. He took off the necklace hung around him, handing it to his mother. Orange and yellow petals surrounded the Delta Rune. The sign of royalty. "... It's... Best you forget about me." He said, turning.

"Wait! A-Asriel!" Toriel said, as he began to run. She was about to run after him when Chara caught her hand, holding her back. "Asriel, don't go! Please!" She pleaded with her son, as he sprinted into the light of the Exit. "Chara! Please, let me go!"

"... He wants to see the sun one more time." Chara explained to her. "... Let him go." Toriel was dead still, as was everyone else. Faintly, Toriel could hear the yell of a human, followed by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. Toriel ripped herself out of Chara's grasp. "Asriel! No! No no no-" She began to panic, running. Toriel raised her fire sword as she ran into the light, and everyone shook off of their shock, running after her. But, by the time that they had reached the sunlight, they realized that Toriel stood over several human corpses, sobbing and shaking. "... His... Body... Isn't... It isn't even here..." She whispered. Frisk bit their lip, walking up to her. They knew what Asriel meant by her hating him.

"... He knew he wouldn't be Asriel for long without the power of the SOULS." Frisk said to Toriel as they walked to her side. "... He would turn back into Flowey. The flower that attacked us. So he decided to kill himself. So... You would never hate him again." Frisk explained to her. She wiped her eyes, shaking, and taking deep breaths. She reached out for Frisk to take her hand as she straightened up.

"... I don't think I will ever understand, my child. But... All I know is that..." She raised her sword into the air, her gaze hardening. "We're going to kill the humans. We're winning the war! We will never surrender to the people who felled our kingdom, pushed us to the ground, made us weak! Made us unable to fight back!" Toriel exclaimed. "For the fallen prince! For the king! The queen!" The rest of the monsters took up the cheer with her.

" _FOR MONSTERKIND! WE SHALL WIN!_ "

* * *

 **The End**


End file.
